Convergent
by EruditePrincess1993
Summary: Isobel Matthews, niece of Jeanine Matthews, is not a Divergent, but she cuts close to being one, with having almost equal aptitude for both Erudite and Dauntless. When Jeanine places her in Dauntless to work with Eric Matheson, Isobel's former acquaintance from her past in Erudite, it sets off a chain of events that Isobel didn't expect. Mostly canon and slightly AU. COMPLETED.
1. Chapter One

**My first **_**Divergent **_**FanFiction. I was always fascinated by the Erudite, probably because I can relate to them on a intellectual level. This takes place during the trilogy. I don't own Veronica Roth's world but I own my OCs.**

**This contains Eric/OC and FourTris.**

**NOTE: This was written and completed before _Four: A Divergent Collection _was released, though I have read _Four: The Transfer _and _Free Four: Tobias tells the Story _while writing this fic.**

* * *

Almost every inch of my wall is covered in bookcases, with space saved for my desk and bed. In fact, practically the entire house in the Erudite compound is like that. Except for the bathroom.

Today is the day of the aptitude test, with the Choosing Ceremony tomorrow. Every sixteen year old has to take a test to see what faction they belong in and the next day, they either choose to stay in their faction or go to another.

Since I'm sixteen, I have to take the aptitude test. I put on my white, long-sleeved button up blouse, my blue blazer, and my blue knee length skirt. Most of those living in Erudite wear glasses, because it makes us look intelligent. However, I don't wear glasses, though my parents and twin brother do.

My mother, Katherine Matthews, teaches Faction History to my grade at the local school. There is no favoritism, as that's the reason she expects more out of me. Dad, William Matthews, is one of the three leaders in Erudite, and he trains the Erudite-born initiates. Part of the reason why is because Jeanine Matthews, his sister and main leader of the Erudite faction, gave him that position.

After having brushed my dark blond hair before partially restraining it in a clip, retrieve my history book and I go downstairs for breakfast. During breakfast, and mealtimes, it's common for the family to read a book and newspaper as well as intellectual conversation.

I set my book by my plate and open it before taking my fork to tuck into my breakfast.

"Ready for your aptitude test?" I heard mom ask me.

Should she be saying, _are you nervous? _Because I'm nervous, as I don't what faction the test might say where I belong. What will it be – Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless or Erudite?

I know that my parents don't want me to be Abnegation. There is tension between the two factions. I have a fondness for literature; I am very good with psychology, sociology, and history. I'm a straight A student. In fact, I have read certain books for fun, especially hand-to-hand combat. I have always researched self-defense, and every night, in the early morning hours, I would practice defense moves when I should be reading history and psychology books.

My parents don't know about my pamphlets that I have about self-defense tips that are hidden in my wall panels.

"I think so," I say.

"Use _I will_, Isobel," chides mom. "Doubting will only hinder your effort."

Right, because an Erudite can never be unconfident.

"I know I'll get Erudite," says Theodore.

"Or Candor," I say. He's good at getting the truth out of you. Not to mention I saw him read a book on body language.

I have a feeling that me, and some of my friends from the Erudite faction, like Will, Edward, Myra, Lydia, and Anne might get Dauntless. I lost count the times where I, Will, Myra, Lydia and Edward would go to Will's house to read on fighting tactics, drinking soda, and joke and laugh, that Cara would come in to tell us to quiet down.

I'm too jovial for Erudite. Since I was eleven, even Aunt Jeanine says that I might be Dauntless material.

"She's temperamental, that one," said Aunt Jeanine a few years ago. "I'm not surprised if she transfers to Dauntless at sixteen."

"Yes, but I worry for her academic future," said mother.

"You should rather have your children be Dauntless, Erudite, and Candor," said Jeanine. "Now Theodore might fit into Candor, since he can tell if you are lying or not."

Two years ago, the son of a family friend, Eric Matheson, transferred to Dauntless. His father is also an Erudite leader. The Mathesons' and the Matthews have been friends for quite a while. The Priors used to be friends with the Matthews family, but they had a fallout since Aunt Jeanine's former friend, Andrew Prior, left Erudite for Abnegation. My mom and Eric's mom have tried to match us up before his transfer with no luck. I was never interested in him, because he seemed intimidating, even for an Erudite. I don't think he was interested either, for a girl would have ruined his study hours at the time. Dauntless suited him.

* * *

"So what should we do after school?" asks Will as he, Edward, Myra, Lydia, and I traveled through the crowded hallways to our first class Advanced Math. "Read?"

"I'm going with my family to Aunt Jeanine's for dinner," I say. "So, I have plans."

"Hey, Edward, Myra, we could go over to my house and read books from dad's office," offers Lydia.

"Oh dear, look who is here," says Myra.

I look ahead to see Peter Hayes from Candor talking with two of his lackeys, Drew and Molly. Though he is from a different faction, I have hated his guts since we started school. He is a total hypocrite, because while he'll catch you in a lie, he is a liar himself. He seems to be having a competitive nature, as he got upset that one time when someone from Abnegation received a higher score on a test then he did and he told the teacher he saw the student cheat. Because he is from Candor, they didn't question his story. Also, he has made it his daily goal to woo me, despite the fact that he and Theodore never have gotten along in school.

He looks at me, smiles and waves as I walk by with my friends, not acknowledging him.

One of these days, he needs to get the message that I am not interested. Where I'm going, I hope he is not going either. I would hate to be in the same faction as him.

* * *

The tests begin after lunch. We sit at the long tables in the cafeteria, and the test administrators call ten names at a time, one for each testing room. I sit next to Theodore and his girlfriend Rosalie.

Rosalie's father is the scientist and currently, he is working on some type of simulation serum. We don't know what it is for, since it is classified and he is working closely with Aunt Jeanine on the structure of it.

The test administrators are mostly from Abnegation, although there is an Erudite in one of the rooms and a Dauntless in another.

I am currently reading the recent report by Aunt Jeanine about Abnegation. It's a rather unflattering portrait of Marcus Eaton, the leader of Abnegation, and it says that child abuse caused his son Tobias to transfer to Dauntless. I don't believe in all the reports, but I have a nagging feeling that this one is not something that Aunt Jeanine came up with on her own.

"From Abnegation: Caleb Prior and Isaac Hinds, from Amity: Albert Pierce and Agatha Snow, from Candor: Peter Hayes and Molly Atwood, from Dauntless: Uriah Pedrad and Jason Granger, and from Erudite: Isobel Matthews and Lydia Walkrose."

I put down my paper and I follow Lydia to the exit. Caleb from Abnegation lets us exit the cafeteria before he does. We all line up, each of us facing a door. Peter from Candor winks at me before entering room 3 and I scowl at him before entering room 4.

Inside the room is an Abnegation woman. Her hair pulled back in a bun and her loose grey dress is a giveaway. Being from Erudite, I should be condescending, but instead I smile and sit on the reclining chair.

"My name is Natalie Prior and I'll be administrating your aptitude test," she says. She connects the wires to me, herself, and the machine before handing me a vial of clear liquid. I then close my eyes.

* * *

When I open them, I notice that I'm in the testing room and I'm the only one in here.

"Choose," I heard a familiar voice of a woman tell me. Aunt Jeanine. I turn around and see two baskets. One has a block of cheese; the other has a knife as long as my forearm. I warily approach the baskets. I know that the Amity and Abnegation will choose the cheese. The Dauntless are going to choose the knife.

I choose the knife. Then the door opens and I hear a dog growling. I turned to see the dog, barring its teeth at me. If this were a human, I would use the knife, but no, because I don't believe in hurting an innocent animal. So, I drop the knife and allow the dog to lunge at me.

The dog disappears and I'm standing in a bus. Sitting near me is a man with a newspaper. I can't see his face, since the paper is over his face, but his hands are covered with scars, fire burns.

"Do you know this guy?" he asks me as he taps the picture on the paper. The headline says: "Brutal Murderer Finally Apprehended!" The picture beneath the headline is a young man with a plain face and a beard. I feel like I know him but I could hardly fathom how. I think it's better if I say I don't know him.

"Sorry, sir," I say shaking my head. "I don't know him."

Even though I was polite, he stands up, and his lips curled into a snarl. He gets in my face and says, "You're lying! You're lying!"

"I do not lie," I protest.

"I can see it in your eyes."

By impulse, I put my hands on his chest and push him away from me. Hard.


	2. Chapter Two

I wake up, breathing heavily and my palms sweaty. I am back in the chair in the mirrored room. Natalie looks preoccupied in thought as she disconnects the wires from me, herself, and the computer. She excuses herself for a few minutes before coming back, feeling slightly relieved.

"Well?" I ask politely.

She turns to me and says, "Your results say Dauntless. You almost show equal aptitude to Erudite. If it were completely equal, the results would have been inconclusive. Fortunately, you're not Divergent but you are cutting close to being one. Don't worry, those from your faction who get Dauntless usually retain their Erudite traits. The last person who transferred to Dauntless also showed almost equal aptitude to Erudite. Someone from Dauntless tested him."

I think I knew who that might have been. Have a Dauntless test result and almost show equal aptitude to Erudite.

On the other hand, I know what a Divergent is. Someone who shows equal aptitude to more than one faction. Lately Aunt Jeanine has been talking about that. How she believes that Divergence threatens the faction system. She says there's a certain beauty to that resistance, but it's something they couldn't afford.

"What happens if I got an inconclusive result?" I ask.

"Then your results would have been reported manually," she says. "Sometimes, we redo the test so that four factions can be ruled out."

"How dangerous is it to be a Divergent?" I ask.

"Very. If you received inconclusive results, my advice would have been a transfer to either Amity or Abnegation," says Natalie, "as Erudite, Dauntless, and Candor would be dangerous."

Since Aunt Jeanine is not speaking favorably about those who are Divergent, I concede that Natalie is correct. If I were Divergent, I would transfer to Abnegation.

I am soon allowed to turn into the lunchroom and I sit next to Will and Myra, rubbing my sweaty palms on my blue skirt.

"Are you okay?" Will asks me with concern. "You look like you might throw up."

Do I? I feel nauseous from nervousness so to speak.

"I think it is the liquid they gave us," I say.

The others slowly filter back into the room. Peter looks satisfied, judging by the smirk on his face. Whatever made him that smug, I hope he is not going where I'm going. He sits next to Drew at one of the Candor tables.

The Abnegation volunteer calls out the next round of names: "From Abnegation: Susan Black and Beatrice Prior, from Amity: Grace Moore and James Bagman, from Candor: Christina Kravitz and Katie Potter, from Dauntless: Alex Sharp and Felix Manor, and from Erudite: Theodore Matthews and Edward Viridian."

Theodore and Edward leave the tables and follow the others from the lunchroom. I pass the time by looking over a crossword puzzle. Edward and Theodore return a few minutes later, with Theodore looking nauseous.

Once everyone has completed the aptitude tests, everyone is free to return to their respective factions.

* * *

In the whole Erudite Compound, since she is the main leader, Aunt Jeanine's house is very spacious, with bookcases covering almost every wall of her residence, with the dining room and bathrooms untouched.

The leather folder containing reports about Abnegation, "Is one of her main jobs," she says.

"If I see two or more children leaving Abnegation for either Dauntless or Erudite, I'll be looking into it and make a report," says Aunt Jeanine, as the five of us ate a meal of breaded chicken, mashed potatoes, and buttered corn.

"I have read your report about Marcus Eaton this morning," dad tells his sister. "Quite informative."

"I have looked through the simulation results from the Dauntless transfers from two years ago," says Aunt Jeanine. "I'm very thankful that Eric gave the Erudite reporter some information."

"About the scars on Tobias Eaton's back and arms?" says mom. "Poor boy. Leaving Abnegation must have been a major improvement."

"And did Eric tell the reporter that during their initiation, he heard Tobias thrash in his sleep and telling Marcus to stop what he was doing?" says dad.

"I'm sure Marcus Eaton is fretting over that one," says Aunt Jeanine, "now that his past home life has been revealed."

Just by her remark, I could tell she didn't make that up just by thin air. Since Marcus is particularly prominent in Abnegation, the others who work with him will believe that it was just a lie invented by the Erudite out of malice.

"Also, I heard from Alexia that something went wrong with one of the aptitude tests," says dad.

"Really?" says Aunt Jeanine, who clearly wants to learn more.

"One of the students became ill and Tori from Dauntless had to report the results verbally," says dad.

"If the test was reported verbally, I suspect we might have a Divergent on our hands," says Aunt Jeanine. "Usually in the case of an inconclusive test, the results are reported manually."

"Do you know who the Divergent is?" asks Theodore.

"Not yet," says Aunt Jeanine. "I'll look through it the day after tomorrow."

When dinner was over, Jeanine ordered Theodore and me to come to her office. She has us sit down in front of her desk while she sits in the chair behind it.

"What are your results?" she asks. Since she is the main leader of Erudite and since Theodore and I were born in Erudite, it's not against the rules to tell her our results.

"I got Candor," says Theodore.

"I'm not surprised," Aunt Jeanine tells him. "I always knew you had a thing for honesty."

She looks at me and I say, "I got Dauntless."

"Ah," she acknowledges.

"The person who administered my test says that I almost showed equal aptitude for Erudite," I say. "I'm not Divergent but I cut close to being one."

She studies me for a moment before saying, "Theodore, go see what your parents are doing."

When he leaves the office and closes the door, Aunt Jeanine turns to me. "It would please me if you would do something for me."

"Do what?" I ask.

"You see, Abnegation was given information that should have been handed to Erudite and I'm afraid they will leak it out," says Aunt Jeanine. "Tomorrow I want you to choose Dauntless."

"What does Dauntless have anything to do with it?" I ask.

"You know Eric?" she asks. "Thanks to pulling some strings with Max, Eric is also a Dauntless leader. I would like you to work with him on bringing the Dauntless to our side."

"Why does Erudite need Dauntless?" I ask.

"You'll see shortly," says Aunt Jeanine. "Choose Dauntless. It will benefit me if you help Erudite with our cause."

* * *

"_Choose Dauntless. It will benefit me if you help Erudite with our cause."_

My aunt's words repeat in my head. Why does she want me in Dauntless? And to team up with Eric? I never have seen him for two years since he transferred to Dauntless. How is that going to work, since he is a faction leader and I'll just be an initiate transfer? I'm guessing she'll pull more strings.

Also, he's eighteen, but with Dauntless I'm sure age doesn't matter.

Aunt Jeanine is up to something, I don't know what, but if she wants to plant me in Dauntless and meet with Eric, she is up to something big.

And since she pulled the strings by ensuring that Eric was also a Dauntless leader, gives me the impression that she planted him there as well. The Matthews' and Eric's parents are friends with each other.

The thought still lingers with me on the morning of the Choosing Ceremony. I style my hair in an elegant twist, I dress in black slacks and my blue sweater with a white collar. I put my black tennis shoes on instead of my professional flats.

My family takes the bus to the Hub and before we enter the building, an Abnegation family lets us enter the building first. The Priors. Mom fixes a cold glare at them while Theodore mutters the word "Stiff" when looking at Caleb and his sister Beatrice.

I'll be glad when I leave Erudite.

We step into an elevator and it takes us twenty floors to the auditorium where the Ceremony takes place. The seating is separated by faction, with the Erudite sitting at the third column. On the stage are five bowls sitting on pedestals.

Theodore and I stand on the stage with the other sixteen year olds. On the floor, are markers with the faction symbols, which we will be standing on after choosing our factions.

One by one, the main leaders ascend the stage, taking turns giving the introductory speech and Marcus remains for the choosing. One by one, with a new knife, each sixteen year old cuts their palm and pours the blood into the faction bowl.

Caleb Prior chooses Erudite, causing outrage among those from Abnegation. He'll be seen as a traitor. Perhaps he doesn't know that the Abnegation are not allowed to visit Erudite for Visiting Day, which occurs during initiation.

His sister, Beatrice cuts her palm. She hovers her hand over the grey stones in the Abnegation bowl, suggesting she'll choose Abnegation but at the  
last moment she pours her blood into the lit coals in the Dauntless bowl . Now Aunt Jeanine will be trying to write a report about the "reason" they left.

When it is my turn, I take the knife from Marcus and proceed to the Dauntless bowl. Without hesitation I cut my palm and pour my blood into the lit coals in the Dauntless bowl.

I could imagine Aunt Jeanine smirking proudly for my decision.

I stand with the others in the Dauntless group and watch as my brother makes his choice.

He looks at both the Candor bowl and the Erudite bowl before he cuts his palm and pours the blood into the glass in the Candor bowl.

I chose Dauntless. My brother chose Candor.

I am brave. He is honest.


	3. Chapter Three

**As a reminder, I'm going by the movie version of Eric when it comes to his physical appearance. Jai Courtney's physical rendition fits Eric more in my opinion.**

* * *

I watch as sixteen year-olds choose their factions and joining the groups of the transfers and born initiates. To my utter disgust, Peter and his lackeys chose Dauntless. Great. Do I have to go through initiation with them?

Peter smirks at me, trying to pass it off as flirtatious. I scowl and turn away from him. He's not brave. He picked Dauntless just so it would give him an excuse to beat down on the people he doesn't like. The only positives are that Will, Edward, and Myra are going to be in the same faction with me.

When the last girl makes her choice – Amity – it's time to leave. The Dauntless exit first. Abnegation will be the last ones to leave because they have to clean up. I look back at the Erudite and see that Caleb Prior has obviously not regretted joining Erudite. He's the only Abnegation-born that transferred to Erudite this year. The same with Beatrice's transfer to Dauntless.

I glance at Will and Beatrice, both are looking ill as I'm feeling.

The crowd of Dauntless are leading us to the stairs. Just then, the Dauntless start running down the stairs. After the Choosing Ceremony, the Dauntless-born initiates and the transfers run through the city.

I am one of the first ones to catch on and I run, keeping up with the Dauntless and I'm breathless when we reach the first floor. The Dauntless burst through the exit.

Due to the academic lifestyle of Erudite, we don't engage in too much physical activity. I am glad I exercised my muscles to prepare for Dauntless. I'm sure Abnegation doesn't either, but Beatrice seems to have caught on. What has she done during the past years? Watch the Dauntless?

We follow the Dauntless down the street, blocking the path of the bus, following them around the corner, and we hear the train horn.

"Oh no," mumbles an Erudite boy who I don't know. "Are we supposed to hop on that thing?"

"Yes," answers Beatrice Prior.

We spread out in a line as the train passes, its doors open. The Dauntless-born hop in first, leaving us transfers. We run with the car for few steps and then throw ourselves sideways. I manage to pull myself to the door and unfortunately, it's Peter that pulls me in.

"Fun isn't it?" he asks.

"Sure," I say.

"Did you see that a Stiff joined?" says Drew.

"Yeah, she's not going to last long," leers Peter.

Before Molly could reply, I speak up. "She might last. She caught on pretty fast when we started running."

Disbelief is on their features.

"Are you being sarcastic, because there is no way that a Stiff could catch on that quickly," says Molly.

I just snort at her answer. For a half hour the train rides through the city and then it slows down.

Seeing the Dauntless-born initiates jump into the rooftop, Molly says, "We have to jump off too, then."

"Great," says Peter, "because that makes perfect sense, Molly. Leap off a train into a roof."

"This is kind have what we signed up for, Peter," says Molly. Beatrice and a dark-skinned Candor girl are the first transfers to jump off. I get by the door and risk the jump as well, successfully landing on the rooftop.

Someone screams but I don't pay attention. If it is true, Dauntless initiation is risky business.

I see Beatrice examine her elbow, like she's trying to find a injury.

"Ooh. _Scandalous_! A Stiff's flashing some skin!" yells Peter, as he smirks and points at her. It causes her to lift her head and she drops her sleeve.

I don't join the laughter, and tell him, dripping with sarcasm, "Ha. Ha. Peter, you're funny…Not!"

"Listen up! My name is Max! I am one of the leaders of your new faction!" shouts a man at the other end of the roof. He looks older than the others, with deep creases in his dark brown skin and with a groomed beard, and he stands on the ledge like it is a sidewalk. "Several stories below us is the members' entrance to our compound. If you can't muster the will to jump off, you don't belong here. Our initiates have the pleasure of going first."

"You want us to jump off a _ledge_?" asks Myra mortified.

"Yes," says Max, looking amused.

The crowd in front of the initiates splits in half, making a wide path for us. Beatrice from Abnegation is the first to walk up to the ledge. She stares down the ledge and takes off her jacket, balling it up and she throws it at Peter's chest, inciting cat calls and shouts. The reaction on his face is priceless.

She pauses before she jumps off the ledge. After a minute, we hear someone shout, "First jumper – Tris!"

The girl Bea – excuse me, Tris – was with earlier, jumps off second, screaming in the process. Two minutes later, I jump off, and land into what feels like a net. Two pairs of hands help me out of the net and my feet land on the concrete.

Slowly, the other initiates fall into the net and when all of us are on solid ground, two Dauntless members (I'm guessing eighteen, but with Dauntless, it's hard to tell) lead us down a narrow tunnel. I deliberately stay near Will, and trying to avoid Peter.

Our two leaders stop at some point and a woman with three piercings through her right eyebrow, says, "This is where we divide. The Dauntless-born initiates are with me. I assume _you _don't need a tour of the place."

After the Dauntless-born leave with her, the male leading us speaks.

"Most of the time I work in the control room, but for the next few weeks, I am your instructor. My name is Four," he introduces. Four. Is that a nickname? Because no one names their child Four.

"Four? Like the number?" asks Tris's Candor companion.

"Yes," Four says. "Is there a problem?"

"No."

"Good. We're about to go into The Pit, which you will someday learn to love, it –

"

The Candor girl snickers. "The Pit. Clever name."

He walks up to her face and leans his face close to hers. Laughing at a Dauntless is the last thing I would do.

"What's your name?" Four asks her quietly.

"Christina," she squeaks.

"Well, Christina, if I wanted to put off with Candor smart-mouths, I would have joined their faction," he hisses. "The first lesson you will learn from me is to keep your mouth shut. Got that?"

She nods and he continues to lead the way, opening the door to what he calls "the Pit." Judging by the look and the Dauntless members having leisure time, this is a area for leisure. Four leads us to what he calls "the chasm," which is revealed to be a ramp way over a river.

"The chasm reminds us that there is a fair line between bravery and idiocy!" Four shouts. "A daredevil jump off this ledge will end your life. It has happened before and will happen again. You have been warned."

Four then leads the group of initiates across the Pit toward a gaping hole in the wall. My ears meet the sound and I could guess before I see it: a dining hall.

When we walk in, the Dauntless inside stand and greet us with applause. I guess here, mealtimes are not a private affair like it is in Erudite. I undo my twist and let my hair fall. Dauntless is not the place for looking sharp.

I unconsciously follow Tris, Christina, and Four towards an empty table. On the platters, I recognize at least most of the food, and put a hamburger on my plate.

Tris recently has been introduced to the hamburger, by the looks of it.

"Stiffs eat plain food," Four tells Christina. He must be Abnegation-born, because how else would he know. As for his usage of _Stiff_, he could only be using that slang because he needs to uphold loyalty to Dauntless.

Tris jokes about how she left Abnegation because of the food and Four's mouth twitches.

The doors to the cafeteria open, and a hush falls over the room. I look over my shoulder. A young man, probably about the same age as Four, walks in, and it is quiet enough that I hear his footsteps. The area above his right eyebrow is pierced twice, his blonde hair is short with the sides of his head shaved, and there are tattoos on his neck and on both of his forearms. Despite the hair, the tattoos, the piercings above his right eyebrow and ears, I easily place him.

Eric.

I was correct after all. Dauntless life does suit him.

"Who's that?" Christina hisses.

"Eric," I say before I could stop myself. "He transferred from Erudite two years ago. My parents are friends with his parents."

Four shoots me a warning glance but continues, "Yes, and he is a Dauntless leader."

"Seriously? He is so young," says Christina.

"Age doesn't matter here," says Four, as he gives her a grave look.

A moment later, Eric approaches our table and drops into a seat next to Four. He offers no greeting, but he studies my face, like he is trying to place me. I haven't changed much in two years, so it might be easy for him to recognize me.

"Well, aren't you going to introduce me?" he asks Four.

"This is Tris, Christina, and…" Four pauses when he gets to me, "what's your name?"

"Isobel," I answer.

"So, you chose Dauntless as well," Eric says to me. "Somehow I'm not surprised." He turns to look at Tris and says, "A Stiff. We'll see how long you last."

"You never know," I say. "She seemed to have caught on fairly well after the Choosing Ceremony."

"We'll see about that," Eric says to me before turning to Four.

"What have you been doing, Four?" he asks.

"Nothing really," answers Four.

I doubt they are even friends, because Four looks tense. Just because you see people sitting next to each other, that does not always mean they are friends. Just the way they hold their bodies suggest that they have animosity towards each other.

"Max tells me he keeps trying to meet with you, and you don't show up," says Eric. "He requested that I find out what's going on with you."

"Tell him that I am satisfied with the position I currently hold."

"So he wants to give you a job."

"So it would seem."

"And you are not interested," says Eric.

"I haven't been interested for two years."

"Well," says Eric. "Let's hope he gets to the point, then."

He claps Four on the shoulder, a little too hard, and gets up. He stops to pat me on the shoulder and says, "I'll be seeing you with the other transfers." When he walks away, I slouch slightly. I always found him intimidating before he transferred to Dauntless two years ago. I'm sure he is even more so, now that he is a Dauntless.

And a leader to boot as well.

"Are you two…friends?" Tris asks Four. I thought she was going to ask me that question, as Eric patting my shoulder before leaving would give them that impression. Friends don't act tense towards each other with one looking like his companion was a threat to his status, which was how Eric was regarding Four.

"We were in the same initiate class," he answers her. "As Isobel revealed to you, he transferred from Erudite."

"Were you a transfer too?" she asks him.

"I thought I would only have trouble with the Candor asking too many questions and the Erudite acting like they know everything," he says to her coldly. "Now I've got Stiffs too?"

Something tells me that she asked a question he doesn't want to answer, furthering my suspicions that he was originally from Abnegation. If he were from Erudite or Candor, he would divulge that information.

The only Abnegation transfer to Dauntless was Tobias Eaton, two years ago. Could Four possibly be…?

"It must be because you are so approachable," Tris tells him, interrupting my thoughts. "You know like a bed of nails."

"Careful, Tris." Four leaves us for another table after someone from Dauntless calls him.

"I have a theory," Christina tells Tris.

"And what is it?" she asks.

She picks up her hamburger and tells Tris, "That you have a death wish." She turns to me and asks, "Were you and Eric friends back at Erudite?"

Just as I expected. They might ask that.

"We knew each other since we were kids, but we weren't friends," I say. "Our parents tried to match us up before he transferred two years ago. I doubt he was even interested."

"Were you interested?" asks Christina.

"No," I say.

"I could see why. He is pretty intimidating," says Christina.

* * *

After dinner, Eric leads the initiates down a series of hallways without telling us where we are going. I stick to Edward and Myra and avoid Peter. I carefully tread, not wanting to lose my footing.

Eric stops in front of a wooden door and we gather around him.

"For those of you who don't know, my name is Eric," he says. "I'm one of the five leaders of the Dauntless. We take the initiation process very seriously, so I volunteered to oversee most of your training."

I somehow feel comfortable, since I basically know him, but I can't help but feel slightly intimidated.

"Some ground rules," he says. "You have to be in the training room by eight o'clock every day. Training takes place every day from eight to six, with a break for lunch. You are free to do whatever you like after six. You will also get some time off between each stage of initiation."

Back at Erudite, our free time was strictly devoted to reading books, as it was essential to enhancing our intellect. Anything of leisure was considered a hindrance to the intellect.

"You are only permitted to leave the compound when accompanied by a Dauntless," Eric adds. "Behind the door is the room where you will be sleeping for the next few weeks. You notice that there are ten beds and fortunately, there are ten of you."

"We started with thirteen," Christina protests.

"There is always at least one transfer who doesn't make it to the compound," says Eric, picking at his cuticles. He shrugs. "Anyway, in the first stage of initiation, we keep the transfers and Dauntless-born initiates separate, but that doesn't mean you are evaluated separately. At the end of initiation, your rankings will be determined in comparison with the Dauntless-born initiates. And they are better than you already. So I expect –"

"_Rankings_?" Myra asks. "Why are we ranked?

"Your ranking serves two purposes," he says. "The first is that it determines the order in which you will select a job after initiation. There are only a few _desirable _positions available. The second purpose, is that only the top ten initiates are only made members."

"_What_?" says Christina.

"There are eleven Dauntless-born and ten of you," Eric continues. "Four initiates will be cut at the end of stage one. The remainder will be cut after the final test."

That means six of us will have to leave. I register the frozen shock of the other transfers. It's like that in every faction. In Erudite, the initiates take tests testing their knowledge and intellect. For Dauntless, it will make sense. They would want members who willingly take pain and are able to fight back. I'm not tall or intimidating, but I'm glad I learn strategies for self-defense.

"What do we do if we're cut?" asks Peter.

"Is it obvious, stupid?" I snap at him. there is only one answer. If one fails initiation, they will become factionless.

Eric looks amused at my retort and continues, "You leave the Dauntless compound and live factionless."

Myra clasps her hands over her mouth and stifles a sob. Amongst the shock, Tris has a look of determination on her face. Despite that she is from Abnegation, I'm not surprised if she will last.

"But that's…not fair!" Molly protests. "If we had _known _–"

I'm not surprised that Molly said that. Her skull is thicker then metal.

"Are you saying that if you had known before the Choosing Ceremony, you wouldn't have chosen Dauntless?" Eric snaps. "Because if that is the case, you should get out now. If you are really one of us, it won't matter to you that you might fail. And if it does, you are a coward."

Eric pushes the door to the dormitory open.

"You chose us," he says. "Now we have to choose you."

The other transfers slowly file into the dormitory but Eric grabs my upper arm and turns me to face him.

"You know, you should have left the Candor boy's question for me to answer," he says sternly.

"I apologize," I say politely.

Eric smirks and says, "I'm grateful that you didn't come in here with false expectations. It seems you prepared yourself. I always knew I would fit into Dauntless before my aptitude test."

"Same here," I say, hoping that he will let me go.

"I'll be seeing you soon," he says, letting go my arm and allowing me to enter the dormitory.

Apparently, few of the transfers have settled on their beds and a few are fighting over them. I pick a bed next to where Edward is sitting. On the beds are our bedcovers, and a pair of black pajamas.

"This is great, isn't it?" I hear Peter say, and I look to see him lounging on his bed.

"I agree, and I would appreciate it if you stopped talking," I say, as I made my bed.

"So, you and Eric. Was he your boyfriend back at Erudite before he transferred?" asks Peter. How does he know? Of course, he must have had one his lackeys eavesdrop, but Eric was not my boyfriend. _Acquaintance _is more fitting.

I react by throwing one of my pillows at his face. "No, he wasn't, you jackass," I snap at him.

I thought I hear Christina giggle.

Peter, however, looks unfazed by my retort and he playfully throws my pillow back to my bed. "Well, he stopped you so he could talk to you, so, maybe I thought he was."

"He was reprimanding me for speaking out of turn," I say.

"Well, maybe Tris isn't the only one with a death wish," says Christina.

During initiation, hopefully I might be able to punch Peter's nose. I will be more satisfied if I break it.

* * *

I lie in bed and hear nine other people breathing.

I am used to my own private quarters back in Erudite, but I better get used to this until initiation is over. I wonder how Theodore is doing at the Candor compound. Has he made friends yet? Is he wondering how he will pass Candor initiation?

Back at our old home in Erudite, mom and dad for the first time ate dinner without Theodore and me. When they go through my room, they'll probably find self-defense pamphlets in the paneling and they'll think I was a very good actor, pretending I was a true Erudite when I was really cut out for Dauntless. In the Erudite compound, the transfer initiates are in a dormitory similar to the one here in Dauntless. I'm sure there are kids losing sleep, over failing initiation that proved that they have a thirst for knowledge. In Abnegation initiation, I heard that Abnegation members take in the transfer initiates in their homes.

I know one of my parents will visit me on Visiting Day. Dad will visit Theodore at Candor

A few beds away, I hear Al, the transfer from Candor, sob in his sleep. Perhaps he is homesick. Perhaps he is fretting over initiation.

Hopefully, he'll figure out that crying is only to slim his chances of staying in Dauntless.


	4. Chapter Four

"The first thing you will learn today is how to shoot a gun. The second thing is how to win a fight." Four is pressing a gun in each of the transfers' hand, and presses one in my hand without looking at us and he keeps on walking. "Thankfully, if you are here, you already know how to get on and off a moving train, so I don't need to teach you that.

The gun feels weird in my hand, basically because I have been holding books in my hands as early as childhood.

"Initiation is divided into three stages. We will measure your progress and rank you according to your performance in each stage. The stages are not weighed equally in determining your final rank, so it is possible, though difficult, to drastically improve your rank overtime.

"We believe that preparation eradicates cowardice, which we define as the failure to act in the midst of fear," says Four. "Therefore each stage of initiation is intended to prepare you in a different way. The first stage is primarily physical; the second, primarily emotional; the third, primarily mental."

"But what…" Peter yawns through his words. "What does firing a gun have to do with…bravery?"

Four flips the gun in his hand, presses the barrel to Peter's forehead, and clicks a bullet in place. Peter freezes with his lips parted, the yawn dead in his mouth.

"Wake. Up," Four snaps. "You are holding a gun, you idiot. Act like it."

Four lowers the gun, and Peter's green eyes harden. Perhaps he prefers that he would rather have Eric oversee us. Eric, from what I heard, is with Lauren, the other Dauntless member, overseeing the Dauntless-born initiates.

"And to answer your question…you are far less likely to soil your pants and cry for your mother if you're prepared to defend yourself." Four stops walking at the end of the row and turns on his heel. "This is also information you may need later in stage one. So, watch me."

He faces the wall with the targets on it – one square of plywood with three red circles for each of us. He stands with his feet apart, holds the gun in both hands and fires. I focus rather on his demonstration then the loud bangs.

I point my gun at my own target, wrap both my hands around the handle of the gun, and begin firing. The first bullet hits the middle circle and the second hits the middle of the target. I hear Will saying something to Tris, but I am much too focused on my surroundings.

Peter is in the process of turning his target like that of Swiss cheese. By the time I have defaced the middle of my target with bullet holes, I hear Will say to Tris, "So you see, I'm right. The stats don't lie."

* * *

When we all file into the cafeteria, I'm in the process of massaging my fingers. Will and I sit with Edward and Myra for a minute before we decide to sit with Tris, Christina, and Al.

"Can we sit here?" asks Will, tapping the table with his finger.

"What, you two don't want to hang out with your Erudite buddies?" Christina asks us.

"Dauntless initiate transfer is the correct word," I say, as Will and I sat down.

"Plus, Edward and Myra are dating, and we would rather not be the third wheels," finishes Will.

Tris watches them kiss, her expression a mixture of reproach and longing.

"Do they have to be so _public_?" Tris asks.

"She just kissed him." Al frowns at her. When he frowns, his eyebrows touch his eyelashes. "It's not like they're stripping naked."

"A kiss is not something you do in public," says Tris.

Al, Christina, Will, and I can't help but smile at her. Clearly she has retained some of her Abnegation mentality.

"What?" she asks.

"Your Abnegation is showing," says Christina. "The rest of us are all right with a little affection in public."

"Oh." Tris shrugs. "Well…I guess I'll have to get over it, then."

"Or you can stray frigid," says Will, his eyes glinting with mischief. "You know. If you want."

Christina throws a roll at him. Predictably, he catches it and bites it.

"Don't be mean to her," Christina says. "Frigidity is her nature. Sort of like being a know-it-all is in yours."

"I'm not _frigid_!" she exclaims.

"Don't worry about it," says Will. "It's endearing. Look, you're all red."

She is. Technically she is blushing. She joins in on our laughter after a few seconds.

* * *

After lunch, Four leads us to a new room. It's huge, with a rubber platform on the middle of the concrete floor. On the left wall is a chalkboard. Back at school, most of the classrooms use a white board. Our names are written on the board in alphabetical order. Hanging at three foot intervals along the end of the wall are large, orange punching bags.

We line up behind them and Four stands in the middle, where we can all see him.

"As I said this morning," says Four, "next you will learn how to fight. The purpose of this is to prepare you to act; to prepare your body to respond to threats and challenges – which you will need, if you intend to survive life as a Dauntless."

I read every book on self-defense and fighting techniques as long as I remember. Like Will, I read each faction manifesto. I have helped supply books for Erudite initiation. Even before Eric told the initiates, I read that initiation processes are designed to keep the initiates that qualify for that faction. Just because you choose that faction, that doesn't mean you are in there for life. The aptitude test only shows which faction you fit best. The initiation tests you to see if you really belong in that faction.

As much as I loathe Peter, I know he will last past initiation, unlike his two lackeys. They may be ready physically but mentally and emotionally, I doubt it.

"We will go over technique today, and tomorrow you will start to fight each other," says Four. "So I recommend that you pay attention. Those who don't learn fast will get hurt."

Four names a few different punches, demonstrating each one as he does, first against the air and then against the punching bag.

I use my memory of self-defense as I batter the orange punching bag with my fists, elbows, knees, and feet, while keeping the tension in my abdomen, as Four wanders through the crowd of initiates.

"Done knocking yourself out?" I hear Peter ask me. I turn to see him looking at me, leaning against his punching bag, smirking, his skin shining with sweat.

"Hey, I read on self-defense and fighting techniques and practiced in my room," I icily retort. "I didn't use innocent Amity or Abnegation children as punching bags."

"You're not tall as I am," says Peter. "You and the Stiff are relatively the same height, but hey, unlike her, you'll be able to last initiation. You might even be ranked second."

"And why is that?" I demand.

"Because you have skill, like me and she doesn't," says Peter, smirking.

I just glare at him before continuing to beat the punching bag.

When Four releases us for dinner, since training is over, I know that it means downtime. I head to the tattoo parlor with Al and Will while Tris and Christina head to the clothing place, which I'll look at tomorrow. Probably.

The tattoo parlor is luminous with purple lighting, coming from neon signs and the ceiling. I look through one of the book and see that they have faction tattoos. I know which one I will get: the Erudite symbol.

A woman with neon green hair draws the Erudite symbol on my upper right forearm and I see that Al is having a spider drawn on his arm the moment Tris and Christina walk in.

When the tattoo is finished being drawn on my arm, I wear a bandage around the area. I will take it off in the morning, so that my skin will breathe. I enter the Pit with the intent on eating dinner when I cross Eric.

"Decided to fit in?" he asks, eyeing my bandaged arm.

"Did you have your skin inked when you were an initiate?" I asked.

"I did, knowing that I would pass initiation," says Eric. "Most initiates decide on tattoos while others wait until they pass initiation. Four was one the initiates that waited. Being a Stiff, I surprised he passed."

So, Four **_is_ **Tobias Eaton.

"Come. I have been trying to locate you since Four released you and the other transfers," says Eric, leading me away from the Pit.

If I were a regular transfer, I would assume I was in trouble, but Aunt Jeanine requested specifically that I choose Dauntless. To help with the Erudite cause against Abnegation and assist Eric with something on the Dauntless end.

I follow him through different hallways before he opens a wooden door.

"In," he instructs, and I concede.

I recognize that it is a office, with a desk and filing cabinets, and I notice a small bookcase holding books.

"Now, this is only between you, Max, and me," he says. "None of the initiates are allowed to know our agreement with Erudite."

"I assume that my aunt informed you and Max that I was going to assist you in something," I say to him, sitting down in the chair in front of his desk.

"Naturally, you would assume correct," says Eric, sitting behind his desk. "Jeanine specifically wants you to read this before we do anything."

He hands me a manila folder and I open it. The words on first sheet of paper say _Dauntless_ _Simulation Serum_. I turn over the paper. The file is fifty pages long, but I skim over it just to get an idea. Apparently, this serum, has transmitters. Once injected, it connects the mind to a simulation program controlled by computer. The individual does what the computer says through the transmitters and if it can't get creepy enough, the individual will have no memory or control over what they are doing.

I place the contents on the desk in front of me and say to Eric, "Does my aunt intend to inject every Dauntless member with this?"

"She doesn't want to risk protest from the Dauntless," says Eric, looking calculating. "They will think the transmitter will only be used to track them if they go missing, that way they can't refuse. The Abnegation won't know what will hit them when we attack their compound."

Is this why my aunt wants me to be in Dauntless, to help wage war against Abnegation? No wonder why she wants two Dauntless members, a leader and a initiate transfer, from Erudite to help her, though Max was born in Dauntless.

I hide my disgust with indifference and ask, "When do you plan to inject the serum?"

"After the initiation ceremony," says Eric. "First, Erudite needs to test the serum to see if it works and Jeanine wants the individual to be willing to be tested and specifically, an initiate from Dauntless."

I know the initiate they are talking about. Me. Of course, they would want someone who was from Erudite, related to Jeanine Matthews, knows one of the Dauntless leaders who is Erudite born, and who knows of the plot.

And unfortunately, I qualify.

"When are the times that I would read this in detail before becoming the willing guinea pig?" I ask.

"Three times during the first two weeks after training," says Eric. "The other initiates will think you are helping us with some work in the control room."

The ones who will become factionless will be the lucky ones. Since I'm the guinea pig for this serum, most likely, the transmitters will not activate for me when the time comes to wage war against innocent unarmed Abnegation members.

Aunt Jeanine will exclude me when it comes to putting the Dauntless in simulation.


	5. Chapter Five

**How am I doing for a **_**Divergent **_**newbie fan? I entered the fandom earlier this month.**

* * *

"Today, each of you will start testing your abilities to protect yourselves during an attack," says Four, as he steps away from the board in the training room. I look at it and see that Will is paired against Al, Christina is paired against Molly, I am paired against Peter, and last on the list, Edward will go against Tris.

"Oh no, not good," moans Christina. "I'm up against The Tank."

"The Tank?" Tris asks Christina puzzled, looking at the board.

"Yeah, Peter's slightly more feminine-looking minion," she says, nodding towards Molly, who was standing with Peter and Drew. "Those three" – Christina points at Peter, Drew, and Molly in turn – "have been practically inseparable since they crawled out of the womb, practically. I hate them."

"Molly and Drew's skulls are thicker than metal, I'm not surprised if they don't last initiation," I retort, and Christina snorts, agreeing with me.

Will and Al stand across from each other on the platform. They put their hands up by their faces to protect themselves, as Four taught us, and shuffle in a circle around each other. Al is half a foot taller than Will, and as twice as broad. From what I read, even people who are petite can take down someone who is a foot taller. It just depends on how good they are. If someone gets beaten down the first time, it will make them try harder the second time.

Tris and I glance at Peter and his lackeys. He notices me, smiles, and waves. I don't acknowledge him.

"What's wrong with them?" asks Tris.

"Peter is pure evil. When we were kids, he would pick fights with people from other factions and then, when an adult came to break it up, he'd cry and make up some story about how the other kid started it," answers Christina. "And of course, they believed him, because we were Candor and we couldn't lie. Ha ha."

"Not to mention he made it is daily goal to hit on me, even though I was from Erudite and he was from Candor," I divulge. "That didn't stop him. He couldn't get my brother into trouble because he knew he would use his intelligence to get out of it."

Christina nods, wrinkles her nose and adds, "Drew is just his sidekick. I doubt he has an independent thought in his brain. And Molly…she's the kind of person who fries ants with a magnifying glass just to watch them flail around."

On the platform, Al punches Will hard in the jaw. Across the room, Eric smirks, his arms folded.

Will stumbles back to where he was, one hand pressed to his face, and blocks Al's next punch with his free hand. Blocking the punch must have been painful, judging by the grimace on his face.

"What faction did your brother choose?" Tris asks me.

"He chose Candor," I answer.

Peter, Drew, and Molly cast furtive looks at our direction and then pull their heads together, whispering.

"They know we are talking about them," I observe.

"Of course, they know I already hate them," says Christina.

"They do? How?" asks Tris.

Christina fakes a smile and waves at them. Tris looks down, blushing.

Will hooks a foot around Al's legs and yanks back, knocking Al to the ground. Al scrambles to his feet.

"Because I told them," says Christina, smiling, and she turns to me and says, "I can't believe that they put you against Peter."

"He'll do almost nothing," I say. "No guy wants to batter the face of the girl they are attracted to."

I look at the platform. Will and Al face each other for a few more seconds, more hesitant then before. Will flicks his brown hair from his eyes. They glance at Four like they're waiting for him to call the fight off, but he stands with his arms folded. A few feet away from him, Eric checks his watch, looking inpatient.

After a few seconds of circling, Eric shouts, "Do you think this is a leisure activity? Should we break for naptime? Fight each other!"

"But…" Al straightens, letting his hands down, and says, "Is it scored or something? When does the fight end?"

"It ends when one of you is unable to continue," says Eric. Yikes. Until one of us is bleeding and too beaten to continue? That's ruthless and brutal.

"According to Dauntless rules," Four says, "one of you could also concede."

Eric narrows his eyes at Four. "According to the _old _rules," he says. "In the _new _rules, no one concedes."

"A brave man acknowledges the strength of others," Four replies.

"A brave man never surrenders."

Beads of sweat dot Al's forehead; he wipes them with the back of his hand.

"This is ridiculous," Al says, shaking his head. "What's the point of beating him up? We're in the same faction!"

"Oh, you think it's going to be that easy?" Will asks, grinning. "Go on. Try to hit me slowpoke."

Will puts his hands up again. Al tries a punch and Will ducks. After a failed punch and a few kicks, Al charges at Will, grabs his arm before punching him in the jaw.

I watch the light leave Will's eyes. They roll back into his head, and all the tension leaves his body. He slips from Al's hands and crumples to the floor.

After a few moments of prodding by Al to see if he would respond, Will blinks, clearly dazed.

"Get him up," Eric says. The curl of his lip is cruel.

Four turns to the chalkboard and circles Al's name. Victory.

"Next up – Molly and Christina!" shouts Eric. Al pulls Will's arm across his shoulders and drags him off the platform.

Christina cracks her knuckles. I know this isn't going to go down well. She may be taller, then Molly, but Molly is broad shouldered and aggressive. Most likely she'll beat Christina to a bloody pulp.

Across the room, Four supports Will from the waist and leads him out. Al stands for a moment by the door, watching them go.

Tris looks nervous. Probably because Four left us with Eric. He's intimidating, that's for sure. More intimidating then the last time I saw him before he transferred. But the way Tris looks at him, it's like she thinks he'll flay us alive with sharpened knives. He's not that ruthless, I don't think.

Both Christina and Molly ascend the platform. They both put their hands up by their faces and stare each other down. The way Molly is looking at Christina, like the way a predator looks at its prey, confirms the grim notion that Molly _will _beat Christina until she is a bloody pulp.

Christina kicks Molly in the side. Molly gasps and grits her teeth like she's about to growl through them. That won't do her good.

Al stands next to Tris as they observe the scene.

Molly smirks at Christina, and without warning, dives, hands outstretched, at Christina's midsection. She hits her hard, knocking her down, and pins her to the ground. Christina thrashes, but Molly is heavy and she doesn't budge.

Molly punches Christina until she is practically bleeding. Finally Christina drags her arms free and punches the ear, knocking her off-balance, and wriggles free. She comes to her knees, holding her face with one hand. The blood streaming from her nose is thick and heavy and covers her fingers in seconds.

Molly kicks Christina to the ground and when she pulls her foot back up to kick again, Christina wails, "Stop! I'm…I'm done."

Molly smiles and the tension escapes my body. Al and Tris look relieved.

Eric walks up to the platform, his movements slow, and stands over Christina. He says quietly, "I'm sorry, what did you say? You're done?"

I guess that Eric would rather have Molly beat Christina to death instead of surrendering, given that he didn't intervene when Molly basically beat Christina until she bled.

Christina pushes herself to the ground. She pinches her nose to stop the bleeding and nods.

"Get up," he says. He grabs Christina's arm, yanks her to her feet, and drags her out the door.

"Follow me," he says to the rest of us.

And we do.

* * *

"You, uhm, feeling a little better?" Eric asks Christina. I feel the roar of river over my chest. I know what Eric plans to do: make an example of her. Why else take her to the chasm?

"Yeah, I'm fine," says Christina. No she is _not_, since she is bleeding from her nose. Without warning (though I have been expecting it), Eric throws her off the bridge.

"Grab the rail or don't," he says. She does and he steps back before saying, "You have three choices: hang in there for five minutes and I'll forget your cowardice, fall and die, or give up. If you give up, you're out."

Molly, Peter, and Drew smirk, as my blood runs cold by the scene. When I last saw Eric before his transfer to Dauntless, he was intimidating, but not ruthless and vicious. Did they treat him the same during his initiation like he treats the other transfers?

"You can do it, Chris," says Tris, causing Eric to glare at her.

Christina struggles for five minutes, with Tris and Al encouraging her to hold on. After five whole minutes, Eric tells her, "Fine, you can come up."

Al walks toward the railing.

"No," says Eric. "She has to do it on her own."

"No she doesn't," Al growls. "She did what you said. She's not a coward. She did what you said."

Eric doesn't respond and Al and Tris help Christina to climb up the bridge.

* * *

We arrive back at the training room where Eric circles Molly's name. Victory. She cheated that's what she did. Al took Christina to the infirmary and Four is back. He just glares at Eric. Did he witness Eric making Christina hang over the chasm? He cleans up the blood that was left.

"Next up – Peter and Isobel!" shouts Eric.

I stride up to the platform and meet up with Peter. He is almost a foot taller than I am and muscular. I sense Drew and Molly whispering to each other, smirking. They are probably betting that Peter will beat me the way Molly did Christina.

Peter and I put our hands up our faces and just trace each other's steps.

"Come on, give me your best," Peter goads, grinning. I curl my fist and aim for his jaw. He blocks it and sends a punch to my mouth. I feign slipping, catching him off guard before I punch him hard in the eye.

He stumbles backward before coming back. I look over Peter's shoulder to see Eric smirking.

I aim my foot at his stomach. He grabs my foot and yanks it forward, knocking me off-balance. I use my foot to yank one of his legs, knocking him off-balance. I get on my feet before he does.

We circle each other for a few seconds before Peter aims to punch me. I block his elbow and elbow him in the jaw, knocking him off-balance a little bit before he regains his balance.

He blocks a punch and sends one to my eye, causing me to stagger backward before regaining my balance. He tries to block another punch before I grab his wrist and punch him hard in the nose.

After regaining his balance, he aims his fist to my gut and hits me hard before I could even react. I fall to the floor, crawling on my hands and knees. I try to get on my knees, but the force of his punch prevents me and I end up vomiting on the platform.

Peter slightly winces.

"Help her up," orders Eric, looking unamused for some reason.

Peter takes my shoulder and drags me from the platform. I could do it myself. I don't need him to take me to the infirmary.

"Stop," says Eric. "I'll take it from here."

Peter looks like he might argue but doesn't say anything.

Someone moves in to clean the vomit as Eric takes me from Peter's hands.

"Next up – Drew and Myra!" calls Four as Eric takes me from the training room, with Peter from a distance, watching us leave from the door.

* * *

I'm not in the infirmary long and before I leave, Tris comes in, limping slightly and her face slightly bruised as Four helped her in.

"At least you are not as bad as me," Christina tells her as Tris is helped to a bed.

"I assumed Edward won," I say.

"He did," says Four. "He, unlike Drew to Myra, gave Tris the chance to defend herself."

I remember Myra coming into the infirmary black and blue. Drew and Molly are nothing but brainless gorillas who are only ready for stage one of the initiation. They'll become factionless after initiation.

I leave the infirmary, as I hold my icepack to my eye as I head to the dormitory.

* * *

**I made Isobel's fight with Peter different than Tris's, because my OC arrived to Dauntless with skill and Peter treats her differently than Tris. **


	6. Chapter Six

The next day, my eye isn't as swollen and my lips don't hurt as much. Looking at the mirror in the bathroom, my eye is more yellow then black and the cut on my lip is healing over. I'm the first to shower and change and Tris enters the bathroom just as I leave.

I see Peter grabbing a can of red spray paint and a red marker from his chest drawer. Due to the mischievous glint on his eyes and by Molly's and Drew's silent chuckles, I know he is up to something that is no good.

"Hey, watch this," he says to me before going over to Tris's bed. He opens the can and starts spraying the word _Stiff _on her bedspread over her mattress. I and Al glance at each other and we watch with grimaces on our faces as Peter writes the word _Stiff _again on her pillowcase and again along her bedframe with the red marker.

He chuckles as he hides his tools of defacement and begins fluffing his pillow as he whistles, trying to look innocent. I grab my word search booklet just in case I want to throw it at him.

Tris, looking refreshed and better than she did yesterday, enters the dormitory and I process her reaction as she looks at the vandalism on her bed caused by Peter. She glances at the vandalism and then looks at Peter, who is still fluffing his pillow as he whistles. She is clearly suppressing her fury.

He smiles at her and says, "Nice decorations."

"Did I do something to you that I'm unaware of?" she demands, as she grabs the corner of the marked sheet and yanks it away from the mattress. "I don't know if you've noticed, but we are in the same faction now."

"I don't know what you're referring to," he says to her lightly before he glances at her. "And you and I will _never_ be in the same faction."

I throw my booklet at the back of his head and leave the dormitory and head towards the training room where I see a disgruntled Four writing the names on the blackboard and when he moves away, I see that my opponent is Molly and we go first and after us, is Tris and _Peter_.

From what I heard, Eric thought that Edward was being easy on Tris. Given how he is now, he'll pair her against freaking Peter. Peter won our training fight yesterday, but he gave me chances to defend myself. With Tris, he'll just treat her like those punching bags.

He knows that I have skill and Tris doesn't.

As for pairing me against Molly, I could see what Eric is thinking. Though I believe she is his favorite initiate, he'll think it was my turn to win a fight and her turn to lose one.

Al and Tris enter the room, deep in conversation when they freeze as they see the board. Fear is on Tris's face when she sees who her opponent is.

"Oh no," says Christina as she shuffles in. Her face is bruised, and she looks like she's trying not to limp. Eric is making her fight in that state? When she sees the board, she crumples the muffin wrapper she was holding into her fist and says to Tris, "Are they serious? They're really going to make _you _fight _him_?"

Yesterday, Peter's and my fight lasted at least four minutes. I heard that Eric wasn't going to pair us again because our skill is of _equal_ level, which means he wants unfair fights.

"Maybe you can just take a few hits and pretend to go unconscious," Al suggests to her. "No one would blame you."

"Yeah," she says. "Maybe."

I glare at Al. It irks me that Tris's friends would offer her false hope when Peter will beat her into a bloody pulp.

I get called up with Molly to ascend the platform. She looks at me like I am easy game. Just because Peter beat me yesterday, that doesn't mean I'm weak. We put our hands up by our faces.

She aims for my face but I swiftly duck the punch and punch her in the gut. She stumbles for a little bit before regaining her footing. She smirks at me and she's about to hit my midsection like she did with Christina yesterday. I grab her wrists, let go one of them before I send a punch to her eye. She stumbles a minute longer than before

She blocks my elbow aiming for her jaw and punches me in the jaw. I just stumble back. Even after I punched her stomach, she is still not protecting it. She aims her foot to my gut, and I grab her foot and yank it forward, knocking her to the ground.

I know that move thanks to freaking Peter who used it on me yesterday.

She gets back on her feet and I dodge a punch before grabbing her arm and punching her in the gut.

Halfway conscious, she stands on her feet facing me. I block an elbow to my jaw and punch her in her jaw and I kick her in the gut with my foot. She gets back on her feet, unable to fight anymore.

Four circles my name as I leave the platform. Peter offers me a hi-five, which I ignore.

I stand with Will and Edward as Peter and Tris take the stage.

"You okay there, Stiff?" he says to Tris. "You look like you're about to cry. I might go easy if you cry."

I spit on the floor in disgust. I look up to see Four standing by the door, with his arms folded. His mouth is puckered, like he just swallowed something sour. The disgust is obvious on his face. Next to him is Eric, who is tapping his foot in a fast pace.

Peter puts his hands up to his face and bends his knees, ready for attack. Tris also has her hands up to her face but her legs are not bent like his.

"Come on, Stiff," he says to her. "Just one little tear. Maybe some begging."

She aims her foot to his side, only for him to grab it and yank it forward, knocking her off-balance. Her back hits the floor, and she pulls her foot free, scrambling to her feet.

"Stop playing with her," snaps Eric. "I don't have all day."

Peter punches her in the jaw and she stumbles backwards before he kicks her in the gut, causing her to fall. Before she could get on her feet, he grabs her hair and packs a powerful punch to her nose. She tries slapping him off, only for him to punch her in the ribs.

He shoves her and Tris, her nose heavily bleeding, drags herself to her feet. She looks clearly dazed as Peter hits her from the side again. She punches his arm and he smacks her ear with his palm, laughing under his breath.

That sadist. I'm imagining myself punching his eye. Four leaves the room, clearly disgusted.

Tris, barely conscious, falls on her stomach as Peter continues to kick her in the ribs, inciting a shriek from Christina and finally, Eric steps forward and shouts, "Enough!"

He goes over to Peter and throws him off the platform, knocking him down.

"Someone get her up," says Eric before telling Peter, "My office during lunch."

* * *

Tris is sent to the infirmary and before I leave for lunch, Eric tags me along to his interrogation of Peter. Since Eric and I are Erudite-born, I know what he is thinking. He is going to compare my standoff with Peter to Peter's beat down of Tris.

"In," he says quietly. Peter sits down in front of Eric's desk and I lean up against the wall as Eric walks in.

"Now, Peter, what was the rule I said yesterday?" asked Eric.

"That we fight until one is unable to fight back," says Peter, sheepishly.

"And what did you do?" he asks.

"What you told us," says Peter.

"You know what would have happened if I hadn't intervene?" asks Eric. "You would have killed her and Max would be having _me_ in his office, stripping me of _my_ position."

Eric doesn't care for Tris. He was more worried about what Peter's brutality would cost him.

"Why do you care? You hate her too," says Peter, echoing my thoughts.

"Tell me, why were you different with Isobel yesterday?" asks Eric. I'm satisfied by the fact that Peter is shrinking under him.

Eric turns to me and asks, "Now, did Peter give you a chance to defend yourself yesterday?"

"Yes," I say.

"Did he kick your side after you vomited?" asks Eric.

"No," I say.

He turns to Peter and says, "When I meant that one must stop fighting, I didn't say to keep beating them if it is obvious that they could die."

"Molly pummeled Christina and you said nothing," points out Peter.

"That was because she was a coward for surrendering," says Eric. "Now, this discretion could affect your ranking if you are not careful. My intention was to give Tris a challenge unlike yesterday. I underestimated your abilities yesterday."

Eric didn't underestimate his ability. He _knew _how brutal Peter could be. He's just finding another reason to worry about his position. He doesn't mind almost killing initiates but he gets upset if something threatens his position, like initiates almost killing each other.

My gut is telling me that there is more to this then Eric losing his status. But what is it?

"But I won, did I?" asks Peter.

"I circled your name, idiot," says Eric. "If you try beating anyone until I think you might kill them, costing me my position, expect that Four or I might challenge you to a fight."

Eric has Peter leave and has me stay behind.

"If Four didn't plan that field trip for tomorrow, the Stiff would be given a day off of fighting," says Eric. "I'm not going to pair her again with Peter or any of his friends until she fully recovers from his foolishness that could have cost me my position."

I noticed that he said Peter's name with resentment. I thought Peter fit _Eric's_ standards for a Dauntless member. They're both brutal and vicious…

I remembered that I read something about people not liking those who are too much like them. Eric, a Dauntless leader, is possibly seeing Peter, a Dauntless initiate transfer, as a threat to his position if Peter becomes an official member, just like how Eric views Four.

Eric told Peter that this could affect his ranking. Peter has boasted how he wants to be first and Eric could deliberately make Peter second best, while making a Erudite-born first.

_No, there must be more than just job security, _my mind tells me. But somehow, I can't wrap my head around it .

"Why do you hate Peter so much?" I ask him. I hate Peter too, I admit, because he is a coward, liar, and bully but why does Eric hate him aside from the fact that they are alike?

"You'll understand soon enough," says Eric. Understand what? "I'll be seeing you after six. Go to lunch."

He releases me from his office and I leave for the cafeteria.

Despite being Erudite-born, I'm confused. Deeply confused.

* * *

While half of the dormitory was in the infirmary visiting a battered Tris Prior and the other half were probably at the Pit, getting tattoos or buying some clothes, I was at Eric's apartment, reading the file about the serum in detail.

The apartments, I heard, vary in size depending on the number of occupants. For one person, the apartment is one room with a adjacent bathroom. Eric's apartment, has a small bookcase, just like his office.

I'm sitting at a sofa, reading page twenty about the Dauntless simulation serum. Apparently, the transmitters can be activated or not, depending if the person is trustworthy or not. Also, one computer can control all transmitters at the same time. Which means, when the computer sends a message to the transmitters, everyone will do the same thing. They'll act awake but they'll have no idea what they are doing.

If physical activity burns calories, so does reading and other things that require you to think, like math.

"Your brain too tired for thinking too much?" I hear Eric ask me. I lift my head to look at him. I forgot he was even here.

"I guess you could say that," I answer. "I exerted myself both physically and mentally today."

"By the time for the emotional stage, you'll be done researching," says Eric. "Jeanine has the date and time set for when we go to Erudite to test the serum."

I feel slightly terrified at the notion. What will I experience when the serum is injected in me? Since this serum will be for demonstration, will the transmitters only work for one use?

"I'll go get you some brain food," says Eric before leaving the apartment.

I sit on the couch, somehow feeling subdued by the fact that I am alone. I then decide to stand up and have a look around the apartment until he comes back. In one of his shelves is a stack of papers, separated from the books stored in there. Curiosity gets the better of me and I pull one of them out and in my hands, is the report that was published a day before my aptitude test.

_**The Dark Secret of Marcus Eaton **_

_Due to thorough research, a disturbing secret about Marcus Eaton has just been unveiled last week. Two years ago, Tobias Eaton surprised his faction by transferring to Dauntless when his test results said Abnegation. We have asked ourselves, why would a child of a leader leave the faction that supposedly practices selflessness? Recently, evidence has come to light that an abusive home life was the cause for his transfer. _

"_I would see scars on his back and arms," says Eric Matheson, a Dauntless leader who was in the same initiation class as Tobias Eaton. "It looked as if a belt hit him. During initiation, I would hear him thrashing in his sleep, begging Marcus to stop what he was doing."_

_For your information, our scientists, with the permission of the Dauntless leaders, have accessed recordings of Tobias' fear scapes, and without a doubt, one of them portrayed Marcus beating Tobias with a belt._

"_He would get uneasy when anyone would mention his former faction," says Lauren, a Dauntless member who was also an initiate the same time as Tobias. "Transfers would keep their traits from their original faction, but Tobias tried not to be known as someone from Abnegation. If you met him now, you would think he was born in Dauntless, like I was."_

_Tobias Eaton's discomfort with Abnegation further proves the evidence of his abusive home life. Due to this disturbing revelation, how many of our city officials from Abnegation abuse their children behind closed doors?_

I knew that by Eric's revelation to me was that Four is Tobias Eaton, but this article (I read it the day of my aptitude test before transferring to Dauntless) confirmed it. I read the article again, this time in an Abnegation perspective. Someone from Abnegation would think this was just Erudite propaganda.

Hearing footsteps towards the apartment, I placed the report where I found it and ran back to original spot, as I do not wish Eric to think that I was prying through his belongings.


	7. Chapter Seven

Tris headed back to the dormitory late when everybody was sleeping and when the alarm goes off I am one first to wake up and since Peter's snoring makes my ears bleed, I head over to his bed and smack him on the head with my pillow.

"What…is it time to get up already?" he yawns as I retreat to my drawers and take out few of the clothes supplied by Dauntless: a pair of pants with many side pockets, a red t-shirt, and a leather jacket.

"Looks like the Stiff is not going to wake up," I hear Molly jeer.

"Shut up, Molly," I snap, turning to her. "Do you want me to punch your teeth out?"

She looks to Peter for backup but he keeps humming as he straightens his bed. Is she too stupid to realize that Peter is not her friend and that he is using her and Drew as muscles? I smirk at her reaction before disappearing into the bathroom.

Christina wakes Tris up as I exited the bathroom. Myra comes back with three muffins: one for Edward, one for her, and one for me.

"Thanks," I say before unwrapping it. Blueberry. So far, the Dauntless favor muffins for breakfast and chocolate cake for dessert. In Erudite, we would drink soda. Mainly lime-lemon flavored, though we would have brain food during lessons.

"So what are we doing today?" asks Edward. "Eric told us yesterday afternoon that we would be going on some type of field trip."

I'm the only one that knows, since Eric divulged the information to me before I left his apartment last night. Four was to take us around the fence, which Dauntless soldiers guard.

Will, Edward, Myra, and I follow the other transfer initiates to the Pit and we head to the glass building and run to the exit. When we arrive at the tracks, Four is already there, waiting for us. Tris and Christina arrive just as we hear the train horn blaring.

"What took you so long?" Will shouts at them over the horn.

"Stumpy Legs over here turned into an old lady overnight," says Christina.

"Oh, shut up," says Tris. She looks only slightly better after Peter's beat down yesterday, but she's cheerful. I send a glare at Peter.

Four steps back to let us on first as the train comes near. I grab the door handle and jump into the car on my feet without difficulty. Will hoists himself in after me, landing on his stomach and I help him up.

"Thank you," says Will as I watched Four jump into the train car flawlessly. I wonder if it took practice for him not to act like he was from Abnegation.

Maybe I should refer to him as Tobias but only call him "Four" to his face.

Al and I help Tris into the moving train.

"Feeling okay there?" I hear Peter say to Tris in mock sympathy. "Or are you a little…_Stiff_?"

He bursts into laughter at his joke and his walnut-brained cronies laugh with him. How I would like to land Peter into the infirmary in the same state he left Tris in.

"We are all awed by your incredible wit," Will says to him sarcastically. This is where Will is different than his sister Cara. Cara hates Abnegation-borns to the core while Will doesn't seem to mind to associate with Tris who is from Abnegation. Anyone who is intelligent should be able to pick apart about half of the Erudite reports.

"Yeah, are you sure you don't belong with the Erudite, Peter?" Christina adds. "I hear they don't object to sissies."

I feel the blood reach my neck and face as I glare at her. Though I'm a Dauntless transfer initiate, it angered me that Christina associated my old faction with freaking Peter. Tobias, standing in the doorway, speaks before Peter or I can retort. "Am I going to have to listen to your bickering all the way to the fence?"

Everyone gets quiet, and Tobias turns back to the car's opening.

"What do you think is out there?" Tris asks Christina. "I mean, beyond the fence?"

"A bunch of farms, I guess," answers Christina.

"Yeah, but I mean…past the farms," says Tris. "What are we guarding the city from?"

"Monsters!" says Christina, wiggling her finger at Tris.

Tris rolls her eyes.

"We didn't even have guards near the fence, until five years ago," says Will. "Don't you remember when the Dauntless police used to patrol the factionless sector?"

"Yes," answers Tris.

I too remember about that. There were those who voted the Dauntless out of the factionless sector. The Abnegation reason (which I agree with), was that the poor needed help, not policing. Mom and dad said that the reason that the Dauntless patrolled the sector was to protect the factioned from the factionless. The removal irked my family and my old faction used that as evidence of Abnegation's incompetence.

I ignore Tris's, Christina's, and Will's banter as I hear the train's brakes squeal, and we all lurch forward as the car slows. The dilapidated buildings are replaced with yellow fields and train tracks. The train stops under an awning. I jump from the train into the grass.

"Are you sure you weren't born in Dauntless?" Will asks me. I just grin, knowing that he is not serious.

"Takes training, Will," I say.

When we walk forward to the chain-linked fence, I see that it is endless. Past the fence is a cluster of trees, most of them dead. Milling around on the other side of the fence are Dauntless soldiers carrying guns.

"Follow me," says Tobias. I stay close to Edward and Myra. Tobias leads us to the gate. I was taught along with my brother that the fence protects us from the outside world. Aunt Jeanine said that the factions are safe from the dangers outside the fence that surrounds our city.

"If you don't rank in the top five at the end of initiation, you'll probably end up here," says Tobias, interrupting my thoughts, as he reaches the gate. "Once you are a fence guard, there is some potential for advancement, but not much. You may be able to go on patrols beyond Amity's farms, but –"

"Patrols for what purpose?" asks Will.

Tobias gives a half shrug. "I suppose you'll discover if you find yourself among them. As I was saying. For the most part, those who guard the fence when they are young continue to guard the fence. If it comforts you, some of them insist that it isn't bad as it seems."

"What rank were you?" Peter asks Tobias.

He looks levelly at Peter and says, "I was first."

Tobias was first. What, does that mean Eric was second?

"And you chose to do _this_?" asks Peter, his eyes wide with wonder. They would look innocent to someone who doesn't know him. "Why didn't you get a government job?"

"I didn't want one," says Tobias flatly. Maybe he thinks that the control room was easier than being a Dauntless leader. The big reason might be is that he doesn't want to face his father. Sometimes faction leaders get together for a meeting. Due to the tension between Erudite and Abnegation, they have a mediator.

The Dauntless has limited jobs while with Erudite, there are possibilities: teachers, librarians, scientists, and doctors. If you are lucky, you work for the three Erudite leaders. From what I heard, Erudite-born Dauntless initiates last all three stages in initiation. It was a miracle that Tobias was ranked first. The Abnegation would try hard to stay in Dauntless.

We stop next to the gate. The Dauntless soldiers open a gate open to admit a truck.

Must be an Amity initiation, due to the ages of the kids sitting at the back of the truck amongst stacks of crates holding apples.

"Beatrice?" an Amity boy asks. A boy with curly blond hair hops down from the truck and hesitates before he moves towards Tris and hugs her. I see Tris stiffen and she doesn't move a muscle until he releases her. "Beatrice, what happened to you? What happened to your face?"

"Nothing," she says. "Just training. Nothing."

"_Beatrice_?" demands Molly. She folds her arms and laughs. "Is that your real name, Stiff?"

She glances at Molly, "What did you _think _Tris was short for?"

"Oh, I don't know…weakling?" she touches her chin, as if her walnut-sized brain was any bigger. "Oh wait, _that _doesn't start with Tris. My mistake."

"There's no need to antagonize her," says the Amity boy. "I'm Robert and you are?"

"Someone who doesn't care what your name is," she says. "Why don't you get back in your truck? We're not supposed to fraternize with other faction members."

"Why don't you get away from us?" snaps Tris.

Molly opens her mouth –

"Or better yet, why won't you shove your fist into your throat and shut up, you walnut-brained, metal-thick skulled moron?" I snap at Molly.

Christina, Will, Tris, and even Peter crack up laughing. Molly hangs her mouth open in shock and Tobias is fighting hard not to smile. I walk away satisfied with myself.

Tris has a minute conversation with the Amity boy and afterwards, I see Tobias talking to Tris for a few seconds before the train arrives to take us back to the Dauntless compound.

"Walnut brain," says Christina laughing as the train rides through the city. "Perfect insult."

"Better than Stiff," says Tris. I wonder how her brother is doing at Erudite. He is probably receiving the same bias that Tris is facing here at Dauntless. Since its Erudite he's at, they wouldn't just call him _Stiff_. It's a likely factor that he inherited his Erudite traits from his father. I read previously that if an adult was born in a faction and transferred to another, one of the children might transfer to the faction their parents originated from.

In Erudite initiation, I heard there are usually two groups: the suck-ups who believe what Aunt Jeanine is telling them, and those who listen to my aunt's views with skepticism. If an Erudite transfer initiate originated from Abnegation, that individual will be easily influenced, as my aunt is extremely persuasive.


	8. Chapter Eight

**This is the capture the flag scene. I couldn't find anything useful for Eric's team so I had to use my own imagination.**

* * *

"Man, why is she even here?" says Peter as we watch Tris and Myra on the platform. Myra threw a punch at Tris's chest, but it wasn't hard enough to knock her off-balance.

"She makes the Stiff look skilled," says Molly. "It's sad."

Eric looks completely unamused by the current fight. It is obvious he didn't pair them up, but he didn't intend to pair Tris with Peter and his friends anyway, until she recovers.

"Come on, one of you must knock the other out!" rages Eric. Tris curls her fist and punches Myra hard and she falls on the ground. Seeing that Myra is too dizzy to get up and fight back, Eric says, sounding bored, "Get her up."

Edward goes over and helps Myra up while Tobias circles Tris's name.

"Next up – Drew and Peter!" shouts Eric as Tobias takes Myra to the infirmary.

This is going to be interesting. Peter and Drew both take the platform.

"Come on, Drew," goads Peter.

Drew aims a punch at Peter, only for him to block it and punch Drew in the nose. Both are brutal but Peter gains the upper hand every time. After five minutes, Drew is black and blue, making Peter the winner.

I go third and my opponent is Christina. She looks slightly chipper, most likely because she knows I won't beat her like Molly did. We both give each other our share of punches and kicks and after seven minutes, my ears ring and I feel dizzy to fight back.

* * *

That night, I am asleep an hour when I see the door burst open, waking me up and I see people stream into the room with flashlights.

"Everybody up!" Eric roars. A flashlight shines beside his head, making the bolt- like rings on his right temple glint. With him are other Dauntless and Tobias.

"Did you go death, Stiff?" Eric demands to Tris and I see her slide out of her bedcovers automatically. Christina, only clad in a long black shirt, folds her arms and stares at Eric.

"You have five minutes to get dressed and meet us by the tracks," says Eric. "We're going on another field trip."

I quickly dress in black pants, a dark red t-shirt, and a black jacket before shoving my feet into my shoes and sprint behind Edward and Myra to the train. The Dauntless at the Pit are not surprised by the sight of us. Whatever Eric is planning, the Dauntless know about it.

We make to the tracks just behind the Dauntless-born initiates. Next to the tracks is a pile of guns and the boxes next to it are labeled as PAINTBALLS.

"Everyone grab a gun!" shouts Eric.

We rush toward the pile. Tris and I are the first ones to grab a gun. I take the first gun I find and grab a box of paintballs. I place the box in one of my pockets before strapping the gun to my back.

"Time estimate?" Eric asks Tobias.

Tobias checks his watch. "Any time now. How long is it going to take you to memorize the train schedule?"

"Why should I, when I have you to remind me of it?" says Eric, shoving Tobias's shoulder.

When the train appears, Tobias is the first to get on it. I follow Eric and after he jumps into the car, I grab the handle and hoist myself in without difficulty.

"Excellent jump for an initiate," says Eric.

"Thank you," I tell him.

Once everyone is in, Tobias speaks up.

"We'll be dividing into two teams to play capture the flag. Each team will have an even mix of Dauntless-born initiates, and transfers. One team will get off first and find a place to hide their flag. Then the second team will get off and do the same." The car sways, and Tobias grabs the side of the doorway for balance. "This is Dauntless tradition, so I suggest you take it seriously."

"What do we get if we win?" someone shouts.

"Sounds like the kind of question someone not from Dauntless should ask," says Tobias, raising an eyebrow. "You get to win of course."

"Four and I will be your team captains," says Eric. He looks at Tobias. "Let's divide up the transfers first, shall we?"

Tris tilts her head back, dread on her features. She is most likely experiencing the fear that many unliked kids get when the teacher announces a group project.

"You go first," says Tobias.

Eric shrugs. "Edward."

After scanning the crowd of transfers, Tobias says, "I want the Stiff."

A faint undercurrent of laughter fills the car and Tris's cheeks go red. This doesn't surprise me either, since they are both from Abnegation.

"Got something to prove?" asks Eric, with his trademark smirk. "Or are you just picking the weak ones so that if you lose, you'll have someone to blame on it?"

Tobias shrugs. "Something like that."

I see Tris scowl at her hands. Whatever Tobias's intentions are, he might not want Eric to know, as it would hinder his chances of winning.

"Your turn," Tobias tells Eric.

"Peter."

"Christina."

"Molly."

"Will," says Tobias, biting his thumbnail.

"Drew."

"Al."

"Last ones left are Myra and Isobel. So they are with me," says Eric. "Dauntless-born initiates next."

I didn't surprise me that Eric chose me for his team, but why am I in the same group as Peter and his lackeys while Eric hates Peter? That does not make sense.

I see that Tobias is going for fast and speedy while Eric is going for muscle, except that Myra and I are not bulky. Perhaps because we are from Erudite, like him. From what I heard, capture the flag requires speed, and I bet only a few people in our team are speedy.

They finish choosing teams, and Eric smirks at Tobias.

"Your team can get off second," says Eric.

"Don't do me any favors," Tobias replies. He smiles a little. "You know I don't need them to win."

"No, I know you'll lose no matter when you get off," says Eric, biting his lip. "Take your scrawny team and get off first, then."

Eric's competitive nature hasn't changed since he left Erudite. Before he transferred from Erudite, he and his old friend, Isidor (who stayed at Erudite), would visit the center of Erudite. They would compete on who would finish a crossword puzzle first. If Isidor won, Eric would look as if he would throw a tantrum, but he suppressed it, as tantrums made us look stupid and foolish.

"Well, at least he proved he was smart." I remembered telling him, the month before his aptitude test two years ago.

"I almost had it and he finished a mere two seconds before I did," I remember Eric telling me, visibly ticked off at the time.

Since he is no longer in Erudite, I guess if we lose to Tobias, Eric will most likely spit on the ground.

Tobias's team jumps off the train, leaving us. After a minute, we all stand up.

"When we get off, listen to every word I say," says Eric, "that is, if you want to win."

Eric jumps off the train first and we all jump out after him. My feet land on the grass just as he does.

"Now, where do we hide the flag?" asks Edward.

"At the park at the end of the Navy Pier," says Eric. Since it is dark, I take a flashlight from a Dauntless-born initiate, a girl with purple hair.

"Don't tell me Isobel is afraid of the dark," says Peter, with a hint of mischief.

"Shut up, Peter," I retort. "I am only using the flashlight because we need to see."

"There is to be no arguing," says Eric. "Do I need to separate you two?"

I could feel him glaring at Peter. What is he afraid Peter might do? Fool around? However, I take this as the opportunity to distance myself from Peter and his moronic lackeys and I stick close to Eric.

Myra, Edward, Eric, the purple haired girl, Peter, and I are the fast walkers on this team, while the others are trying to keep up.

"Keep up, slowpokes," the purple-haired Dauntless girl calls out.

"Jeez, Jordan," says a Dauntless boy. "Maybe you guys should slow down."

"If you want to win, keep up," says Eric. "If you stay behind, you're out."

"He's joking, right?" I hear Molly say to someone.

"Eric is not one to joke," I hear someone tell her in response. In all the years I knew Eric before his transfer two years ago, he never had a sense of humor. Then again, it's considered foolish and moronic to have a sense of humor in Erudite. Maybe we should have _Stuffs _as slang to refer to the Erudite then _Know-Alls_.

Because most of the Erudite are stuffy.

We reach the park at Navy Pier. It looks vacant, like it always has for years after the War. Not far is a marshland which was once a lake, named Lake Michigan. It is hard, even for a former Erudite, to try to imagine water in its place.

Eric removes the flag from his pocket of his jacket.

"Now, I need one of you hide the flag," says Eric.

"Where no one could easily see it from a distance," I theorize.

"Good thing I picked Erudite-born transfers for my team," says Eric, smirking as he hands me the flag. "Try to conceal it from a distance."

It doesn't take me long for me to guess which area to hide the flag. I run towards a tree and climb on it before finding a branch high enough to be concealed but easy for the other team to catch.

I climb further up the tree to see if I can spot the other team. I look around and see figures by the Ferris wheel.

"Any activity?" asks Eric, getting the gist of what I am doing. I squint my eyes to see Tobias tying something to a carousel.

"The other team is at the carousel by the Ferris wheel," I shout.

I climb down the tree and join the others.

"This is what we'll do," says Eric as soon as I join them. "One group will stay here and guard the flag while I'll go with the other group to try to capture the other team's flag and bring it back to our base."

"When does the game end?" asks Molly.

"The team that takes a flag to their base first wins," says Eric.

"Okay, so what do we do when encountering to other team?" asks Myra.

"For an Erudite-born, I thought you would see why we would supply paintballs," says Eric, in his calculating matter. "Due to your lack of skill in the first stage, you will most likely get cut after stage one."

Ouch. Eric really knows how to answer questions in a way to suit him. He acts like a Dauntless but anyone who knows where he originated from, will know that he retained his Erudite qualities. His maliciousness will have people overlook his calculating nature.

An Erudite acting like a Dauntless and looking like a Dauntless. I wonder if I would apply as one.

Since we both originate from the same faction, I understand his decisions and thought processes, but that doesn't mean I agree with most of his ideas.

Myra shrinks back and Edward steps forward in a defensive position, and I hold my hand against his chest to block him from doing anything stupid. The stupid decision an initiate could do is provoke a Dauntless leader. Especially a leader like Eric.

"Now then, let me split you into groups," says Eric, smirking at the antagonistic expression on Edward's face. "Isobel, Molly, Edward, Drew, Chelsea, Alex, and Jason are with me, the rest will stay here and guard the flag."

"Whatever you say, Eric," says a brunette Dauntless-initiate, her voice sounding somewhat flirtatious. I feel the blood rush to my hands and neck as I glare at her.

"Why can't I join your group?" asks Peter. Really? Yeah, like I would want jerk ass Peter in my group.

Eric gets into Peter's face, causing Peter to shrink back. I enjoy seeing him intimidated. "I make the decisions here, not you," says Eric. Peter steps back.

We load our guns with paintballs before I leave with Eric and his group while the others stay behind at base, guarding the flag.

"Let's go and get them," says Drew.

Instead of running straight to the Carousel, we take a route that's slightly longer, but where we can appear before the other team reacts. Eric, Edward, Chelsea, and I are in the lead while the others try to keep up.

"Slow down, you guys," Drew pants, trying to keep up with us.

"If that's your problem, you should run more and use your fists less," I yell back. If we have to stop for the slow runners on the team, they are hindering our chances of winning capture the flag.

We navigate our way through the darkened pier, careful that we didn't bump into anything.

At the carousel, seems like Will used his Erudite smarts to help the other team, as he and a few others are guarding the carousel. I playfully shoot a paintball at him and he does an exaggerated imitation of being shot to death.

We run towards the carousel, getting splattered by paintballs in the process and before I could reach the flag hanging, we hear victorious hoots and I turn to see Tris, Tobias, and Christina with two other Dauntless-born initiates, with Christina holding _our _flag.

"Seems like you have a Erudite-smart person in your team as well, but you're not fast enough," says Tobias, grinning.

Eric spits at the ground.

* * *

On the way back to the Dauntless compound, the winning team playfully banters while I sit against the wall, covered with blue and pink paintballs. I'm not upset that I lost, I'm sulking because I'm not a regular transfer initiate. I been planted here to help pursue a cause that I don't agree with and when I pass initiation, I'm sure strings will be pulled to ensure that I have a _desirable _position, no matter what my rank will be.

"Good work back there," I hear Eric tell me and I look to see him sitting next to me.

"We lost," I pointed out.

"I'm not happy about it either," he says, "but I'm glad that we had your brains."

"Thank you," I say, smiling.

"You're going to do well like I did," says Eric. "You're not a coward."

Question is, _will _I actually earn Dauntless membership or will strings be pulled by Aunt Jeanine to ensure that I stay to "support" their plot against Abnegation?


	9. Chapter Nine

What Eric said last night that he wasn't happy about losing to Tobias's team, when I walk into the training room the next morning, I see that he was serious. Eric stands in the middle of the room, his posture rigid it looks like someone replaced his spine with a metal rod. Looks like losing to Tobias was like a pin in the buttocks.

The second thing I notice is large target that stands at one end of the room, and next to the door is a table with knives strewn across it. Target practice again.

"Tomorrow will be the last day of stage one," says Eric. "You will resume fighting then. Today, you'll learn how to aim. Everyone pick up three knives. And pay attention while Four demonstrates the correct technique."

At first, I'm the only one that moves and I pick up my last knife when Eric shouts, "Well, at least one of you is listening. The rest of you, now!"

Everyone else scrambles to get daggers.

When everyone has three knives, we watch Tobias throw knives. I watch his arm and his stance as he does so, not wanting to miss anything.

"Line up!" Eric orders.

In the local library, I have gone and read books on knife throwing. It was Caleb Prior who first handed me the book. We were ten and I was browsing defense books when I saw him reading a book on knife-throwing when he should be putting books away.

"Here, it's good," Caleb, six years ago.

I use the information I know when I throw my knives, and I watch as they hit the target and stick to the board.

"Wow, you're good," says Peter, who is standing next to me, unfortunately. He later yells, "I think the Stiff's taken too many hits in the head!"

I see Tris practicing knife movements as Eric and Tobias pace behind us.

"Hey, Stiff! Remember what a _knife_ is?" he leers. Tobias pushes Peter and the knife misses the target. Just then, Tris throws the knife, being the second one to throw at the target.

"Hey, Peter! Remember what a _target _is?" says Tris.

I snort and I think I hear Christina do the same.

A half hour later, Al, who is at my other side, is the only initiate who hasn't hit the target yet. His knives clatter to the floor, or bounce up the wall. While the rest of us approach the board to collect our weapons, he hunts the floor for his.

_Come on, you can do it. Get the target before Eric notices._

Thing is, I know Eric has seen Al missing the target, because the next time Al tries and misses, Eric marches towards us, faces Al, and says, "How slow _are _you, Candor? Do you need glasses? Should I move the target closer to you?"

I throw a knife, hoping that Al would pay attention to my movements.

Al's face turns red. He throws another knife, and this one sails a few feet to the right of the target. It spins and hits the floor.

"What was that, initiate?" says Eric quietly, leaning closer to Al.

A knot twists in my stomach. This will not go down well.

"It – it slipped," says Al.

"Well, I think you should go get it," Eric says. He scans the other initiates' faces – everyone has stopped throwing knives – and says, "Did I tell you to stop?"

Knives start to hit the board. We have all seen Eric angry before; I have seen him calm and calculating, but this is different. The look in his eyes is almost rabid.

"Go get it?" Al's eyes are wide. "But everyone's still throwing."

"And?"

"And I don't want to get hit."

"I think you can trust your fellow initiates to aim better than you," says Eric, his smile not reaching his eyes, which are cruel. "Go get your knife."

"No," he says.

"Why not?" Eric's eyes fix on Al's face. "Are you afraid?"

"Of getting stabbed by an airborne knife?" says Al. "Yes I am!"

Does Al not realize he's sitting on a ticking time bomb, ready to explode if he resists?

"Everybody stop!" Eric shouts.

The knives stop, and so does all conversation. The knife I am carrying clatters to the floor.

"Clear out of the ring." Eric looks at Al. "All except you."

I follow the other initiates to the edge of the room, and I, like the others, inch in front of Tris, though the others are eager to see what makes my stomach turn: Al, facing Eric's wrath.

"Stand in front of the target," says Eric.

I find myself grabbing an arm and I see that it's Peter I'm holding on to. I withdraw from him automatically. Al's big hands shake. He walks back to the target.

"Hey, Four," Eric looks over his shoulder. "Give me a hand here, huh?"

Tobias scratches one of his eyebrows with a knife point and approaches Eric.

"You're going to stand there as he throws those knives," Eric says to Al, "until you learn not to flinch."

"Is this really necessary?" says Tobias.

I thread my fingers through my hair and end up pulling out a few strands. No matter how casual Tobias sounds, the question is a challenge. And Tobias doesn't often challenge Eric directly.

At first Eric stares at Tobias in silence. Tobias stares back.

"I have the authority here, remember?" says Eric, so quietly that it almost sounds like an whisper. "Here, and everywhere else."

Color rushes to Tobias's face, his expression not changing. He grips the knife and turns to face Al….

"_Stop_ it!" we hear Tris shout.

No, she didn't. Is she that thick to step in? Because it wouldn't take much for Eric turn on her as well. We all gap at her.

"Any idiot can stand in front of a target," says Tris. "It doesn't prove anything except that you're bullying us. Which, as I recall, is a sign of _cowardice_."

I feel goose bumps. Does she realize she's making an idiotic choice of challenging Eric? I know he is malicious but the last thing I would want to do is rile up a Dauntless leader.

"Then it should be easy for you," Eric says to Tris. "If you're willing to take his place."

"There goes your pretty face," Peter hisses to her. "Oh, wait. You don't have one."

I slap the back of his head with enough force I could muster.

"Jeez, Isobel," says Peter, rubbing the back of his head. "No need to hit me that hard."

I glare at him and watch as Tris takes Al's place. Her Abnegation selflessness is going to land her in trouble if she is not careful.

"If you flinch," Tobias says to her carefully, "Al takes your place. Understand?"

Tris nods.

Tobias throws the knives: a foot away from her cheek, one above her head, and one next to her ear. The last one was so close that it probably nicked her ear.

"I would love to stay and see if the rest of you are as daring as she is," says Eric, his voice smooth, "but I think that's enough for today."

He squeezes her shoulder and smiles, something she doesn't return.

"I should keep my eye on you," Eric says to Tris.

Words can be interpreted differently, depending on who is saying them and who is listening. Because this is Eric, those words could be laced with a subtle threat. Tris looks as if someone dumped ice cold water on her. Like he knows something about her.

All of us file out of the room, leaving Tris and Tobias behind.

"She won't last the first stage," says Molly smirking. "They'll more likely cut her from the faction."

I turn to her and says, "Is your skull that thick, walnut brain? Guess who will be talking when they cut _you_ after stage three."

Everyone stops and watches us.

"Cut me?" asks Molly, like she can't believe her ears. "You're talking to the wrong person."

I step closer, leaning close to Molly, using the same intimidation tactic that Eric uses.

"Four said on the first day of initiation that there are three stages: physical, emotional, and mental," I say. "You and Drew are physically ready but mentally? I doubt it. Most likely, you and Drew will become factionless while Tris and Peter stay here."

Molly looks to both Eric and Peter for assistance. Eric just smirks; Peter just stands there, his arms folded.

"See? Peter is not your friend," I say quietly. "He doesn't care if you become factionless while he stays here. He is only using you and Drew as muscles. You're too thick headed to understand that. In the end, you'll see who has the last laugh."

Molly just shrinks, and I feel a smirk form on my lips. I have never liked intimidation, and I am not proud of using it, but Molly needs a serious reality check. She walks away, looking humiliated

Edward and Myra look at me as if I'm a different person; Christina is fighting not to smile, while Peter has his hands in his pockets. He's not defending Molly and Drew because he knows that every word I said was true.

Everyone slowly filters away from the corridors, leaving me with Eric.

"I seem to have left quite an impression on you," he says to me, satisfied.

Before I could digest what he said, Tobias comes into the corridor. What did Tris do that made him fuming?

He looks at us and says, "You better not be smirking," before he walks away.

Just when his back was turned, Eric was smirking behind his back.

* * *

**I want you to answer this question: since the books were in Tris's perspective (it switched back and forth from her to Tobias/Four's perspectives in **_**Allegiant**_**), if my OC was a canon character, how does Tris perceive her so far and how would she perceive her when the storyline in **_**Divergent **_**goes on?**


	10. Chapter Ten

Tomorrow is Visiting Day. If I were in Abnegation, my parents will fully disown me.

I wake up before the alarm and after I shower, I dress in black sweatpants, a big black t-shirt, and black tennis shoes. I sit trying to practice my word search when Tris, only wearing a towel, comes in. Peter, Drew, and Molly, who are standing in a corner, start laughing as she comes in.

She tries to ignore them as she makes way towards her bed and is in the process of finding her clothes when Peter goes over and clamps a hand around her.

"Didn't realize you were skinny, Stiff," he leers.

I stand up, a vein pumping blood in my temple.

"Get away from me," she says, her voice steady.

"This isn't the Hub, you know. No one has to follow a Stiff's orders here," says Peter.

Drew and Molly move in closer and Tris tries looking for an escape. I sneak up behind them, a plan in mind to stop them.

"Look at her," says Molly, crossing her arms. She smirks at Tris. "She's practically a child."

I'm sorry, but those who are _practically a child _are the ones you need to watch for. And why are Molly and Drew still hanging around Peter after I told them that he doesn't care for them?

"Oh, I don't know," says Drew. "She could be hiding something under that towel. Why don't we look and see."

No. No he didn't. That's sexual harassment!

Rage fills me and I practically grab Drew by his shirt and throw him against the neighboring bed. Everyone stops and looks as I grab Peter by the shoulder turn him to face me and punch him hard in the eye.

Tris runs back in the bathroom.

"Do you want me to file a sexual harassment complaint?" I ask. "Because it will be easy for me to go to either Eric or Four and report you."

Drew looks at me, his eyes full of shock; Molly looks dumbstruck, while Peter is looks stunned and dazed. Through Drew's and Molly's small brains, they know by my tone of voice that I wasn't kidding around.

I get a plain black t-shirt, black sweatpants, and underwear from Tris's chest drawer before going back to the bathroom, where I find Tris huddled in a corner.

"Are you okay?" I ask her, my voice full of genuine concern.

She looks up me and says," I don't know."

I approach her and hand her the black clothing and underwear. "If you are paired against Peter or two of his thick headed cronies, i am confident that you will outsmart them, they wouldn't know what will hit them."

She smiles a little and says, "I wish I had your problem with Peter, even though I hate his guts."

I nod, understanding her response. For once, I'm relieved that Peter is annoying me by trying to hit on me instead of committing mean spirited harassment, though I think part of his problem is that he could be sexually frustrated.

I leave the bathroom to give her privacy.

* * *

All of us slowly enter the training room while Tobias is writing the names of the opponents.

"Hey, where have you been this morning?" Christina asks Tris when she walks in.

"I got held up," Tris tells her.

From across the room, I see Molly and Drew. Their smirks are wiped from their faces when they see me.

"What was that about?" Christina asks me, noticing that Drew and Molly basically just shrunk under my gaze.

"Nothing," I lie and I glance at the board. I see that my opponent is Drew and we go second – after Myra and Will, who go first.

Will and Myra basically just shuffle across the platform, missing a punch here and there. Tobias leans against the wall and yawns.

When Drew and I take the platform, it's like he's trying to forget the fact that I threw him against a bed.

He manages a punch to my abdomen, which only has me budge a step backward. I swiftly dodge a second punch and I grab his wrist and punch him hard in the nose.

I thought I hear Peter chuckle across the room.

Drew, probably too baffled, manages to throw a weak punch here and there, only for me to send him powerful punches. The fight lasts six minutes and ends when I knock the wind out of him after kicking his stomach.

"Drew got beaten by a girl! Drew got beaten by a girl!" Peter chants after I step from the platform.

Al loses to Christina, while the fight between Peter and Edward lasts ten minutes because they are both very good, only that Edward is smarter, and managed to send a punch to Peter that knocked the wind out of him.

The last match is Molly and Tris. Let's see how this plays out.

Molly taunts Tris for a bit before putting her weight into a punch, only for Tris to duck and drive her fist right above Molly's bellybutton.

Tris moves out of the way when Molly lunges at her and blocks a punch with her forearm. Molly tries a sloppy kick which Tris dodges and Tris sends an elbow up her face.

Molly sends a punch to her ribs, only for Tris to stumble to the side before coming back. They both put their hands up their faces and stare at each other before Tris sends her fist below her bellybutton and sweep-kicks her legs under her and proceeds to kick Molly who is curled up on the platform until Tobias stops Tris and tells her to take a walk.

"Whoa," says Edward quietly. "What drove her to win against Molly?"

"It's called adapting to one's environment, Edward," I say. "After one loses, it only drives them harder to succeed."

"You're just like your aunt," says Edward. "A walking, talking computer."

In Erudite, they choose leaders based on IQ scores and guess who became a leader due to her IQ score?

Erudite leaders have to very intelligent, Dauntless leaders the most brave, Candor leaders the most honest, Amity leaders the most peaceful, with Abnegation leaders being the most selfless.

Though I doubt Marcus Eaton qualifies as selfless if he beat his son with a belt.

* * *

"You see that the Stiff won against Molly?" I tell Eric that night in his apartment, as I read the other half of the file about the Dauntless Simulation Serum. I mentally cringe when I used Stiff.

"Four didn't hesitate to divulge the information," says Eric. "If a Stiff is ranked first _again_, I'm going to hit something."

"If Four was ranked first, were you second then?" I ask.

"What gave that away?" asks Eric.

"Because you are a Dauntless leader," I tell him.

"Max wanted to give Four my position," says Eric, sitting down next to me. "However, Four's Abnegation modesty prevented him from taking it. He doesn't know that the reason I have this position, are some strings pulled by Jeanine."

"She told me," I acknowledge. "Why?"

"Two reasons," says Eric. "First, to help assist Max in the alliance against the Abnegation and to _properly _train the initiates for war and brutality. Second, the main reason is to look for Divergent rebels."

"Divergent rebels?" I ask.

"She gave me a tip-off the night of the Choosing Ceremony," says Eric. "Your aunt said that a certain _Beatrice_ Prior chose Dauntless when her results were Abnegation. The other problem was that her test was not recorded, that it was given manually."

I remember the night of the aptitude tests, when dad told Jeanine about a faulty test and Jeanine expressing that there could be a Divergent on their hands. Straining my memory, I remember that Tris (at the time, she was wearing a grey sweater, a grey dress, and wearing her hair in a non-descript bun; typical Abnegation wear and style) didn't return from her aptitude test.

"Do you think Tris is a Divergent?" I ask him.

"What do I think after she displayed Abnegation selflessness yesterday?" says Eric, in his usual calculating manner. I remember when Tris took Al's place when Eric was going to have Tobias throw knives at him.

That was both selfless and brave.

"Jeanine told me to pay attention to the simulations during stage two for signs if Tris is a Divergent," Eric continues. "Currently, no signs will be shown at stage one, but I can't help but suspect that –"

He's interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Who is it this time?" he mumbles as he strides to the door. He only opens it just enough so no one would know I was in the apartment. "Well, Four, what brings you here?"

"Max sent me to find you," I hear Tobias say. "He didn't tell me why, just that it was important."

This has to do with Aunt Jeanine. I know it. Why else would Max not tell Tobias?

"Okay," says Eric. "Tell him I'll be there shortly."

He closes the door and says to me, "I have to go. Stay here until I come back."

I nod and watch as he leaves the apartment and I hear the door lock. I sit back and continue reading the file, waiting for him to come back.

Three hours pass and I have finished reading the fifty page document, and Eric still has not come back. It's ten o'clock at night, and I'm tired as it is. The other initiates are probably at the dormitory while I'm still here.

The door is locked. I have to stay here until Eric comes back.

My drowsiness overtakes me eventually, and I lay down on the couch before I fall asleep.


	11. Chapter Eleven

That night, I dream of running through the Navy Pier, panting heavily as I try to run from something. Something unknown. I hide in the tree where I hid the flag and as soon as I climb up there, I see a sea of black, marching. Their movements robotic, not natural. Among the robotic moving Dauntless is Tris, who's the only one aware of her activities.

"Divergent rebel!" someone shouts and I see an awake Peter drag Tris from the crowd. Without hesitation he puts the gun to her head, clicks the bullet in place, and he fires, resulting in Tris dropping dead.

I wake up with a start. The first thing I register is that a heavy blanket is over my body before I realize where I'm at. I realize that I'm still on the couch at Eric's apartment, lying in the same position. The clock says five after four in the morning.

"You finally decided to wake up," I hear Eric say and I look to see him leaning against the table.

"Are you going to reprimand me?" I ask. "Because I believe that a initiate transfer is forbidden to sleep in the apartment of a faction leader."

"You were out like a light bulb," says Eric. "You looked pretty comfortable as well, I didn't see the point of removing you from your spot."

I sit up and rub my hand through my hair. Knowing Eric, why did he just cover me with a blanket and leave me on the couch instead of taking me back to the dormitory and being upset with me for falling asleep on his couch?

"What did Max want?" I ask.

"Jeanine called," says Eric. "Since she knows that stage two will begin shortly, she has decided to test _two _initiates with the simulation serum: one from here, which is you, and another initiate, who will be Dr. Randolph Granger's daughter, since he created the serum."

Rosalie Granger. Theodore's old girlfriend. She chose Erudite, her home faction, during the Choosing Ceremony. So that's the serum her father was working on with Aunt Jeanine. That would explain why it was classified.

"But why would she need two initiates?" I ask him.

"You cut close to being Divergent," says Eric. "Since she believes that a Divergent will not be affected by the serum, she thinks that someone who is cutting close to being one might have _some _control over their actions."

"Does she think Tris might be able to resist the serum?" I ask.

"Since she suspects that Tris Prior is a Divergent, yes," says Eric.

"When does she plan on testing the serum?" I ask.

"The day after we announce the ranking for stage one," says Eric. "I assume you read about the serum."

I nod. In other words, they will not cut me from stage one. What is the point if they want me to help with what they are up to?

"Might as well head back to your dormitory," says Eric. "You don't want your fellow initiates asking questions."

I leave the glass building and head down to the Pit, still not shaking away the nightmare. Dauntless moving in a robotic fashion. Peter shooting Tris in the head.

I quietly slip into the dormitory without anyone noticing and I slip in my bed and lay there until everyone gets up a few hours later. I dress in a pair of black pants, a black, long-sleeved shirt, and a black jacket.

"Where were you last night?" Christina asks me.

"I was here," I say, partially restraining my hair with a black hair tie.

"Your bed was empty," says Christina.

Why are the Candor nosy? I hope that they don't figure out that I was asleep at Eric's apartment until four this morning.

I'm tying my black boots when Eric walks in.

"Attention!" he announces. "I want to give you some advice about today. If by some miracle your families do come to visit you…" He scans our faces and smirks. "…which I doubt, it is best not to seem too attached. That will make it easier for you, and easier for them. We also take the phrase 'faction before blood' very seriously here. Attachment to your family suggests you aren't entirely pleased with your faction, which would be _shameful_. Understand?"

On the way out to the dormitory, Peter begins talking to me.

"Well, I will miss my mom's cooking," he says to me. "I always woke up to the smell of breakfast. You would have loved her pot roast. She always made the meat tender so it wouldn't be hard on the teeth."

I just nod as he talks about his mom's cooking. It sounds like the recollection of an innocent boy than an ambitious sociopath.

We walk into the Pit and see clusters of families. Mainly so far, its Dauntless initiates with Dauntless parents. Peter spots his parents, a short, meek-looking woman with red hair and a tall man with bushy eyebrows. It's not long before I see my mother, wearing her blue pencil skirt, and blue blouse, carrying her black leather clutch; her red curly hair partially restrained in a clip.

"Isobel," she greets, walking over to me and shaking my hand; usual Erudite way of greeting others.

"Where's dad?" I ask.

"Visiting Theodore at Candor," she says promptly.

I imagine Theodore, wearing the usual black and white while dad is in his blue suit. He probably ditched the glasses, since he doesn't need to wear them anymore. In the Erudite compound, I know who will not see their parents, since Abnegation members are denied access to Erudite.

I glance to see Tris with her mother, Natalie Prior. With her simple bun and grey clothes, she looks out of place, but the way she holds her body suggests that she probably has been here before. I see Tobias going over to them.

"How have you been holding up?" mother asks me, and I turn my glance to her.

"Good," I say, stuffing my hands in my pockets. "The first stage of initiation has been rough, but I have been managing. Eric has been overseeing us initiates, so, nothing to worry about."

"How is Eric?" she asks.

"Good, I think," I say sheepishly. "He hasn't changed much, only that he isn't bookish."

"Dauntless has left an impression on him, I suppose," she says.

"How is Aunt Jeanine?" I ask, playing dumb, like I don't know what she is up to. I thought I see Tris turn her face in our direction for a second.

"Pretty busy lately," says mother. "You know Erudite initiation. It seems she is busy trying to fill knowledge into these kids' heads."

Erudite initiation. The perfect time to conceal her plan of war against Abnegation. I think my aunt is spending half of her time brainwashing the transfers about Abnegation. I hope that Caleb Prior doesn't believe her and fall victim to her persuasion, but it might be in vain.

She looks at her watch and says, "I got to go. I have to prep for the Sociology Class for the initiate transfers."

Unlike Dauntless, Erudite has two stages of initiation. The first tests their IQ; the second, they study a pathway. I wanted to study Sociology if my results were Erudite. Instead of rankings, we have lists: one listing the names of those who passed their final IQ exam so they can stay for stage two, another for those who failed, meaning that they will become factionless. That is at the end of stage one. Like Dauntless, the transfer initiates are separated from the Erudite-born initiates during stage one. My mom teaches Sociology during stage two to the initiates when the term is over for those who now have chosen a new faction.

"Okay," I say, nodding.

"It was nice to see you," she says, before shaking my hand before she leaves the Pit. I stand here, alone, watching the initiates with their families. I spot Will with his sister and I approach them when Will introduces her to Tris and her mother.

She gives Tris the type of look that would wither a plant and does not extend her hand. She glares at Mrs. Natalie Prior.

"I can't believe that you associate with one of _them_, Will," says Cara.

I mentally scoff. Tris shouldn't be considered a part of Abnegation anymore.

Natalie purses her lips.

"Cara," says Will, frowning, "there's no need to be rude."

"Oh, certainly not. Do you know who she is?" she points at Natalie. "She's a councilman's _wife_ is what she is. She runs the 'volunteer agency' that supposedly helps the factionless. You think I don't know that you're just hoarding goods to distribute to your own faction while _we _don't get fresh food for a month, huh? Food for the factionless, my eye."

I remember getting fresh fruit and food at home, but the thing is, members of the Erudite council and the families of the three leaders get the food first. It goes through Amity first. I know this because I overheard an argument between an Amity girl and an Erudite boy. The argument: the validity of one of the Erudite reports.

"I'm sorry," says Natalie gently. "I believe you are mistaken."

"Mistaken. Ha," Cara snaps. "I'm sure you're exactly what you seem. A faction of happy-go-lucky do-gooders without a selfish bone in their body. Right."

Tris's face turns red and is about to open her mouth when I nudge her shoulder. I know Cara and she doesn't. I don't want her to do anything stupid.

"Cara, are you aware you are talking to a Dauntless initiate?" I ask her. "From what I know, Tris could have a temper."

"I see why she left Abnegation," says Cara. "No _sane _person would stay there. I would leave too."

"Stop acting like you know them, Cara," I snap. "I never have been there. You never have been there. All _you_ get is reports from _Erudite_. How would you feel if someone from Candor accused your faction of being something if it wasn't true? I never have believed half of them. Before you accuse me of treachery, I'm no longer part of Erudite. Faction before blood, remember?"

Cara looks like she might argue but doesn't say anything.

"Thank you," says Natalie. I hear her tell Tris something and I hear their departing footsteps.

Curiosity gets the better of me and I follow them to the hallway leading to the dining hall before they take a sharp left. I follow them into a dark corridor and blend in as I strain my ears.

"I said no questions about me," Natalie tells Tris. "And I meant it. How are you really doing, Beatrice? How have the fights been? How are you ranked?"

"Ranked?" Tris asks. "You know that I've been fighting? You know that I'm ranked?"

"It isn't top secret information, how the Dauntless initiation works," says Natalie Prior.

"I'm close to the bottom, mom," she says slowly.

"Good," answers Natalie Prior. "No one looks closely at the bottom. Now, this is very important, Beatrice: What were you're aptitude results?"

I never had a close relationship with my parents and Aunt Jeanine, but at least Aunt Jeanine cared to listen about my aptitude results. But then again, she is the main leader of the Erudite faction.

"They were inconclusive," Tris says quietly. I almost make myself known at that pronouncement. So, Tris is the Divergent. The Divergent that Aunt Jeanine is looking for.

"I thought as much." Natalie Prior sighs. "Many children who are raised Abnegation receive that kind of result. We don't know why. But you have to be very careful during the next stage of initiation, Beatrice. Stay in the middle of the pack, no matter what you do. Don't draw attention to yourself. Do you understand?"

Deciding that I heard too much, I slip from the dark corridor and go to the direction of the training room.

Tris is what Aunt Jeanine and Eric suspect.

She's a Divergent.


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Some Eric/Isobel action. The pairing will not hit full swing until later.**

**Also, we have the butter knife scene here. if you look back to chapter 3, guess who sleeps in the bed next to Isobel. I don't want to make my OC just a character witness. If you place them in a scene with the canon characters, it's important for them to interact, thus changing a few things. I just hope that Isobel is not a Mary Sue. And I hope the canon characters are in character, especially Eric.**

* * *

Upon entering the training room, I remove my jacket, set it by the table and approach the punching bags.

I vent out every frustration I could think of as I batter the punching bag. I fantasize that it is Peter I'm beating up.

I batter the punching bag for about twenty minutes, my fists turning red from the force I was using on the punching bag.

"You better not knock yourself out," I hear Eric say to me from behind. "That is a lot of weight to put on a punching bag for a initiate your size."

I turn around to see him approaching me.

"Wondering why I should be at the Pit with the other initiates?" I ask him, my back pressing against the orange punching bag.

"Is your mother here?" he asks.

"She had to leave," I say, looking at him. "She had to prep for the second stage of Erudite initiation."

"What does she teach the initiates?" asks Eric. "It's been two years since I was at Erudite."

"Sociology," I answer. "When the school year starts up, she teaches the sixth years' Faction History at the school."

I stand there, facing him in silence until Eric says, "Stage one of initiation is over, but I feel the need to…evaluate your skills."

It takes a moment to realize what he meant.

"Evaluate my skills?" I ask. "You mean…to fight _you_?"

"If you were not from Erudite, you would have a hard time catching on," he says, smirking.

"You're a leader, I'm just an initiate," I say. "And just as you said stage one is over."

"Just as you said, I'm a leader, therefore you have my permission," says Eric.

Oh crap. He really knows how to get around things.

"Fine," I mutter, heading to the platform. I don't know how this is going to end. I fought the other initiates but never have I fought someone who has been in Dauntless for _two _years.

Someone like Eric especially.

We both face each other on the platform, our arms in front of my faces.

He blocks an elbow to the face and I block his fist with my elbow.

"Good, good," he says. "You know how to block punches. Not like the wusses that are usually your size."

"Looks can be deceiving," I say, aiming my foot to his stomach.

"I think the Stiff proved that one," he says, grabbing my ankle, knocking me off balance, my back hitting the floor. I get to my feet and feel someone restrain one arm behind my back and I see an arm wrapped around my neck.

I use my knee to kick him in the groin. He loosens his hold and I face him.

"Not bad for a initiate," says Eric. "Not bad."

He blocks a punch. I block a punch. Both of us coordinate, in our fighting techniques.

He sweep-kicks my legs from under me, and I do the same while lying on the ground. I'm about to lift myself up when I feel his lips touch mine.

The action is unexpected. Unpredictable, for we were just becoming reacquainted with each other. I'm seized by shock before I find myself returning the kiss, wrapping my arms around his neck as I feel his fingers twine with my hair.

The blood rushes to my face and it feels like a minute has passed before our lips separate, and I look up at him, breathing heavily.

"I think that's enough for now," he says to me softly before leaving me at the training room.

I sit up, slightly dazed.

What just happened?

* * *

At dinner, I join Christina, Al, Tris, and Will and we are uncomfortably close to Peter, Drew, and Molly who are in a table next to us. When our conversation lulls, I hear them speculating about the ranks, which will be announced before bed. Peter says he wants to be first.

My rank can't be that bad. I beat Molly and Drew. Though I'm sure Eric might be pulling some strings to ensure a higher rank.

Eric. Just thinking about him makes be blush. Hopefully the other transfers don't know about our little indiscretion, due to his reputation among the initiates.

"You weren't allowed to have _pets_?" Christina demands, bringing me out my reverie as she smacks the table with her palm. "Why not?"

"Because they're illogical," Will says matter-of-factly. "What is the point in providing food and shelter for an animal that just soils your furniture, makes your home smell bad, and ultimately dies?"

That is one of the things I do not miss about Erudite. Since I was four, I have liked kittens, but due to the faction rules, faction members were prohibited from having pets. I remember when I was seven, I took a stray yellow tiger cat in the house because it was heavily snowing outside. My mom noticed just after a few seconds of entering the house and ordered me to take that animal out. The cat eventually froze to death. Perhaps Erudite will realize the only way to get rid of the stray animal problem is by allowing pets.

Tris, Will, Christina, and Al banter about their aptitude test results as I eat. Tris said she received Abnegation. I want to bring up her Divergence but I don't because it will be dangerous for her.

"You have been quiet," Christina tells me.

"I'm just thinking," I say.

"Have you been using the punching bags, because your hair looks pretty disheveled," says Will.

Does it? I could still feel the feel of his fingers through my hair.

"Yes, I went into the training room and battered a punching bag for twenty minutes," I say.

Christina looks unconvinced but doesn't say anything.

After dinner we go back to our dormitories for the rankings and I manage to get a close view with Edward and Myra. I see that the blackboard is on the floor, leaning against Tobias's legs.

"For those of you that just came in, I'm explaining how the ranks are determined," he says. "After the first round of fights, we ranked you according to your skill level. The number of points you earn depends on your skill level and the skill level of the person you beat. You earn more points for beating someone of a high skill level. I don't reward preying on the week. That is cowardice.

"If you have a high rank, you lose points for losing to a low ranked opponent."

Molly snorts.

"Stage two of training is weighted more heavily than stage one, because it is more closely tied to overcoming cowardice," he says. "That said, it is extremely difficult to rank high at the end of initiation if you rank low in stage one."

I glare at Molly and Drew, for they are not ready for it.

"We will announce the cuts tomorrow," Tobias says. "The fact that you are transfers and the Dauntless-born initiates are not will not be taken into consideration. Four of you could be factionless or none of them. Or four of them could be factionless or none of you. Or any combination thereof. That said, here are your ranks."

He hangs the board and steps back so we can see the rankings:

_First: Edward _

_Second: Peter _

_Third: Isobel _

_Fourth: Will _

_Fifth: Christina _

_Sixth: Molly _

_Seventh: Tris_

_Eighth: Drew _

_Ninth: Al_

_Tenth: Myra_

A three? But Peter and Christina beat me respectively. I couldn't have possibly received a three ranking. However, Eric probably ensured a higher ranking to ensure I stayed, because it would be pointless to give me a lower rank if I'm part of the plan to wage war against Abnegation, because a higher rank suggests I stay.

If any of the Dauntless-born initiates aren't cut, the last four will be factionless.

The room is silent until it falls.

"What?" demands Molly. She points at Christina. "I beat her! I beat her in _minutes_, and she's ranked _above _me?"

I snort. That was only one fight.

"Yeah," says Christina, crossing her arms. She wears a smug smile. "And?"

"If you intend to secure yourself a high rank, I suggest you don't make a habit of losing to low-ranked opponents," says Tobias, his voice cutting through the mutters and grumbles of the other initiates. He pockets the chalk and walks out of the room. Molly looks at his departing figure before glaring at Tris, narrowing her eyes in the process.

"You," she says to Tris. "_You _are going to pay for this."

Molly stalks out of the dormitory, which is an indicator that she is up to something. As I get my night clothes out of my trunk, I see Peter on his bed, taking off his shoes.

"A number three," he says to me. "Could have been better."

I know he is talking about my rank.

"A three is better than becoming factionless," I scoff.

"Just saying," says Peter, smirking at me. "Someone with your skill deserves a two."

Eric told him his stupidity would affect his rank. It's like he gave Edward a first ranking purposely, so Peter wouldn't be first. It's like Eric is waiting for Peter to do something stupid so he could lower his rank.

I continue laying out my pajamas as I see Tris leave the dormitory with Will and Christina while Al gets ready for bed. As Edward disappears into the bathroom, I see Peter glare at his retreating figure.

Now, that is a sign that Peter is up to something and it could be worse than his stunt of vandalizing Tris's bed.

* * *

That night I have trouble falling asleep. Tomorrow Eric and I will go to the Erudite compound to test the simulation serum on me. If I exhibit control over my actions, it will be concluded that a Divergent will not be affected by the serum.

Eric. I seem like minutes ago that we kissed on the platform. Unexpected and awkward. We were just reacquainted with each other this week. We weren't in a relationship either. It doesn't happen usually.

I touch my lips, still feeling his kiss. It's not a lie that I enjoyed it.

I hear a scuffle at Edward's bed, causing me to lift my head. I feel my eyes bug out when I process the scene in front of me.

Peter and Drew are fighting Edward. Peter, his back to me, is holding a butter knife. As soon as Peter stabs the blade in Edward's eye, inciting a blood curdling wail, I find myself jumping off the bed and forcing Peter off of him.

Peter is too shocked to do anything when I punch him down and I begin kicking him in the ribs with my barefoot.

"Coward!" I yell at the top of my lungs, as I keep kicking him. "You bloody coward!"

"Someone turn on the lights!" someone shouts. At this, Peter scrambles to his feet and manages to leave the room when the lights turn on.

I look down to see that I was stepping on Edward's blood. I back away as Tris runs to him. Myra screams.

Tris kneels by his head and tells him, "Lie still."

Edward thrashes.

"I said, lie _still_. Breathe," says Tris in a stern voice.

"My eye!" he screams.

Seeing the blood and the knife in his eye socket turns my stomach and I vomit on the floor.

"Take it out!" he yells. "Get it out, get it out of me, get it out!"

Myra clings to me, crying her eyes out. All I can do is pat her back, as she cries into my shoulder. Even if the knife gets taken out, the damage cannot be repaired. For all I know, the blade could have gone into his brain, mentally damaging him.

When the nurse comes and takes Edward away, I noticed that Drew is absent along with Peter. He probably ran off when he saw me beat Peter up.

For the first time of my life, I want Peter to rot.

* * *

After they take Edward away, I help Tris clean up the blood that was left. We're not going to sleep well, so, someone needs to clean up the mess.

"Peter probably forgot that I was sleeping near Edward's bed," I say, as I scrub the blood. "He didn't even move when I punched him down. I regret that I didn't do any more damage."

"Is it just me or are you becoming more aggressive since you arrived here?" asks Tris.

"If I see things that anger me, I'll lose my temper," I tell her, still scrubbing the floor. "I just didn't want to sit there when Peter used the butter knife. For all I know, the blade could have punctured his brain."

Tris doesn't say anything as we both clean up the blood and Christina keeps supplying us new towels. Hopefully, Peter is in the infirmary. Tonight he showed his true colors: a coward.

My opinion of him has sunk rock bottom.

None of us sleep much tonight.

* * *

I sit in the backseat of one of the sleek, silver cars owned by the prominent Erudite. It's run by solar power and the engine is almost silent. My mom and dad own one to get to work.

This morning, Aunt Jeanine sent dad to the Dauntless compound to take me and Eric to Erudite headquarters. Despite the events of last night, Aunt Jeanine says pushing the demonstration of the simulation serum back a day will hinder her plans and says that she doesn't want to negatively affect the Dauntless initiation.

I look out the window and watch the stone houses pass by. It didn't seem long that I lived here, reading day after day. It even feels like yesterday that I was living here.

The main building in the Erudite faction contains a library, the initiate transfer dormitory, classrooms, the offices of the three leaders, and rooms where serums are tested.

I feel a hand on my shoulder as the car stops in front of the main building. Does Eric sense my tension and is trying to give me some comfort? Malicious, ruthless Eric who puts the transfer initiates' lives at risk and doesn't seem to care?

We both step out of the car and stuff my hands in my pockets as we enter the building. As usual, I see people on computers, their eyes on the screens. I used to go here for homework. On the opposite wall is a portrait of Aunt Jeanine, her arms folded and giving you her usual cold expression. The plaque beneath it reads **Knowledge Leads to Prosperity**.

Eric and I walk up to the desk beneath my aunt's portrait. Eric clears his throat to get the young man's attention.

"How can I help you?" he asks Eric, trying to hide the fact that he is intimidated by his presence.

"We are here to see Jeanine Matthews," says Eric. "We have an appointment with her."

It's like there are two sides of him: the calculating, intelligent Erudite and the vicious Dauntless. I acknowledge both of them while my fellow initiates only see him as the malicious Dauntless leader. It's not surprising, since he cuts close to Divergence like me.

"Hold on," says the young man, as he picks up a phone and dialing an extension.

"Um, excuse me," I hear someone say, tapping my shoulder and I turn to see Tris's brother, Caleb, wearing the blue, sharp, clean-cut suit of the Erudite. He hasn't taken up the glasses by the looks of it. In his hands is an envelope.

"If you see Beatrice, give this to her," says Caleb, holding out the envelope. "It's important."

"I'll take care of it," says Eric, taking the envelope and he ushers me out of the library when the young man at the desk leads us down the corridor.

When we turn the corner, out of sight from the library, Eric puts the envelope in a nearby trash can.

Eric probably thinks that this could ruin the 'faction before blood' saying. It does but I wouldn't throw the letter away.

We are led into my aunt's office. That is, her office at headquarters. She looks up from her book and says, "Right on time."

"I'm sure you have the demonstration serum ready at this point," says Eric.

"Yes," says Aunt Jeanine, standing from her desk. "I apologize about that nasty business last night with one of the Dauntless initiates."

"He has a choice of staying and continuing initiation or quit," says Eric. "I don't see the point of him staying with one eye. The nurse thought that the blade could have gone into his brain, making him unstable."

If Edward quits, Myra will go with him, making them factionless. By the time I get back tonight, most likely I'll see two empty beds and empty trunks.

"Sad news," says Aunt Jeanine, as if it hasn't saddened her at all. "Come. Dr. Granger has the serum ready."

She takes her usual leather folder and we follow her from the office.

"I assume you're becoming accustomed to Dauntless," Aunt Jeanine says to me as we step in the elevator.

"Yes," I say. "When you inject the serum and activate the transmitters, will I be affected?"

"You will not qualify because you know about it and second, since you cut close to being a Divergent, I suspect you might have some control over your actions," says Aunt Jeanine. "Be lucky that you only cut close. However, if you were one, I would ensure you stay out of trouble."

Of course. If I were a Divergent, she would leave me alone, because I'm her niece.

The elevator door opens to level three and we follow her into the corridor. It has the feel of a hospital. The reason is because these are lab rooms, studying and testing serums.

Aunt Jeanine opens a door, the plaque beside it reading **Testing Room 3A**, and lets Eric and I enter first. Eric presses his hand on my back as we enter the lab. Rosalie's father, wearing a blue lab coat over his suit is talking with a woman, going over paperwork.

"Test subject one is here, Dr. Granger," says Aunt Jeanine, with an air of formality.

He looks at me and shakes my hand. "Isobel, it seems like yesterday that I saw you and your brother before your aptitude tests. How is Dauntless initiation treating you?"

"Good," I say.

"Before we do anything, we'll have you sign this," says Dr. Granger, handing me a clipboard with a document on it, "saying that you agree to this testing and that it is required to keep it under the wraps."

I _**don't **_agree with this, but I have to uphold loyalty to Dauntless, to the Erudite cause.

I sign my signature on the line and I hand the clipboard to Dr. Granger and the woman accompanying him leads me to a room. It's half the size of the lab. I'm guessing that Rosalie is in the station next to me. There is a large window showing the main room.

The room is sterile white, with only a metal bed and a few objects sitting on a table, which Dr. Granger's assistant instructs me to lie on.

"This is only going to last twenty minutes," she says. "Since this is for demonstration, this transmitter in this serum will only be activated once. Afterwards, it can't be activated again."

I look at the serum. It's orange and brown in color. Colored serum contains transmitters. I wonder what will be going through the minds of the other Dauntless when they are given this serum.

"Are you ready?" she asks. "The simulation starts right after you close your eyes."

I nod and she injects the serum in me. Afterwards, I close my eyes.

* * *

…I find myself standing on the floor, holding something. I turn the object in my hand then…Somehow, I'm on the floor, crouching. My hands are in front of me, touching the floor. I'm about to…Next thing I know, my back is touching the floor, with my legs against the walls. I try to reach my toes with…

* * *

I wake up, lying on the metal bed. My limbs feel tired, like I moved them around a lot. I sit up to see the group sitting at the other side of the window. Eric is having his hand on his chin, like he's deep in thought. Aunt Jeanine is in deep conversation with Dr. Granger, both talking about something before Dr. Granger gets up and opens the door.

I lift myself from the metal bed and leave the room. As I enter the main testing room, I'm met by my aunt.

"Well?" I ask her.

"You and Rosalie Granger both displayed different results," says Aunt Jeanine. "She stayed in the simulation while you came out of it four times before relapsing back into your simulated state."

I remember finding myself in situations where I don't remember what happened before hand, like the metal object in my hands. Just imagine committing murder without knowing it.

"Just as you predicted," I say to her.

"I knew beforehand, since you're close to Divergent," says Aunt Jeanine. "If you were able to snap out of your simulated state four times, I theorize that a Divergent will not be affected by the transmitters."

She turns to Eric and says, "Keep an eye on Beatrice Prior. I'll come to the compound when stage two of Dauntless initiation is over, and we'll discuss if there are any signs of her Divergence."

Eric smirks, nods and says, "I am and I will."

I have never believed in conspiracies before, but now, I'm feeling like I'm involved in one.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Aunt Jeanine calls up one of her aides to take me and Eric back to the Dauntless compound. She asked if we could stay behind for lunch, but Eric told her he has things to do and that I need to unwind before I start stage two of Dauntless initiation.

The ride to the Dauntless compound is silent and I watch as the Erudite compound disappears from my view.

When the car stops at the glass building above the compound, we see a disgruntled Tobias waiting for us. I leave the car before Eric does and when Eric leaves the backseat of the car, he approaches Tobias with a smirk on his face.

"Waiting all this time, Four?" asks Eric as the car drives away.

"I have been trying to find you in regard to speaking to you about Peter's fate," says Tobias.

"Max has decided that it will affect his ranking at the end of stage two," says Eric. "Aside from that, I think Isobel scared him from further damage."

It's as if Eric is gleeful over the fact that I beat up Peter.

"Keeping him down to two is not enough," says Tobias. "Right now, he's got a number one ranking and despite the injuries he acquired last night, he's strutting around like a peacock. I feel like he should have been cut, in order to keep the other initiates safe."

I regret that I didn't kick Peter hard enough last night.

Eric turns to me and says, "Go back inside. I'll meet with you later."

I go towards the glass building, but linger, as I want to hear what they are talking about.

"You seem to forget, I have authority here," Eric says to Tobias.

"I'm surprised Max didn't strip you of your position after your little indiscretion with one of the initiates yesterday in the training room," says Tobias.

Wait, how did he…? Oh, he must have seen it in the control room.

"I think you need to mind your own business," says Eric smoothly. "I'm surprised to hear it from you when it is obvious that you have feelings for the Stiff."

"I do not –" Tobias begins to protest.

"I guessed it when you left the room when Peter was beating her unconscious," says Eric in his calculating tone. "It shouldn't shock me as you both originate from the same faction. In my opinion, you are a Stiff pretending to be a Dauntless."

I expect them to get into a physical confrontation. Instead they both glare at each other before Eric walks away towards the glass building.

"I knew you were listening," says Eric as we both entered the glass building to enter the compound.

"Go ahead, tell me I fail at being an initiate," I say.

"I knew you would be naturally curious, but sometimes too much curiosity is a bad thing," says Eric.

"Why do you think _Tobias _has feelings for Tris?" I ask, before catching my mistake.

Before Eric can open his mouth to answer my question, Tobias strides towards me and grabs my upper arms to face him.

"How. Did. You. Know. My. Name?" he asked me. I could see in his eyes that I probably unleashed horrible memories just by saying that name.

"I knew you were Abnegation-born," I say, my voice steady. "I knew after you said _Stiffs _eat plain food. Because how else would you know? I guessed you were Tobias Eaton because you and Tris Prior are the only Abnegation-born Dauntless transfers."

He loosens his hold but still looks at me like I crossed a line.

"First you make out with a Dauntless leader, now you referred to me as my _Stiff _name," he says. "You better watch yourself next time."

He walks away, obviously fuming. What have I done? I didn't say his birth name just to tick him off. It was a mistake that I shouldn't have made.

"He'll take out his anger on the punching bags," says Eric, as if the sight of Tobias being angry amused him.

"What will I be doing now that the _learning_ and _testing _process is over?" I ask.

"The initiates think you are helping in the control room," says Eric. "After dinner, you'll work there and tomorrow night, you could help me with a few things in my office."

* * *

Lunch time is at its near end, but I don't feel hungry. I enter the dormitory to see both Myra's and Edward's beds unmade, their trunks empty. I don't need to ask what happened. Edward most likely quit and Myra quit alongside him.

Tris and Drew's beds still look like they would be slipped into tonight. So does Al's, meaning that they are not cut. I look to see the change in ranks on the chalkboard, and see that Peter is first and I come in second after him.

Good thing Peter isn't here, or otherwise, I would beat him into a bloody pulp, in retaliation for the faction displacement of my friends. I have Will, as I'm not the only Erudite-born transfer in Dauntless, but what Peter did was a cowardly act.

I abruptly turn around when I hear someone approaching the dormitory. Fortunately, it's just Christina.

"Oh, Isobel, there you are," says Christina. "Have you seen Tris?"

"No," I say.

"Oh, well, where were you this morning?" asks Christina.

"Um," I say, scratching the back of my neck, "I was helping Eric with a few things."

"You're scratching your neck," says Christina.

"My neck just itches, that's all," I say defensively.

"You sound defensive too," says Christina.

I just cross my arms and I say, "It wasn't big stuff I was helping him with."

I go over to my bed to straighten it up.

"I think you're hiding something," says Christina, approaching me. "I think you two are…you know."

"Shut up that's not even true," I say. "We are not involved in a relationship."

"You were blushing and touching your lips yesterday before lunch, like someone kissed you," she says. "Come on, did you kiss him?"

Why do Candor people annoy me so much? Sometimes I think they confuse things for lies. Body language is different with people.

"I don't understand you, Christina," I say. "Eric made you hang over the chasm for five minutes."

"Well, I think there is something there," she says. "You knew him before he transferred here."

"We were just acquaintances," I say frustrated. "And people can change in two years."

Not wanting to waste my time, I left the dormitory and I face Peter.

"Where were you, I was –" he begins when I grab him by the shirt and throw him against the wall before continuing my way.

I beat him up last night, I slapped him on the head, punched him for trying to sexually harass Tris, and he is still attempting to talk with me, unfazed.

Do I turn him on by being furious with him?

He really infuriates me, and hopefully, he'll get the message that I will never be interested.

* * *

At dinner, I sit far away from Will, Christina, and Al when a windswept Tris enters the cafeteria with the Dauntless-born. Hearing their conversation, I notice that Tris went zip lining with the Dauntless-born and their older siblings.

"Yeah," Christina says to her. "While you were off having fun, I was doing the dirty work of defending your old faction, eliminating interfaction conflict…"

They talk about how the Erudite came here to ask about Abnegation, and Christina apparently punched an Erudite reporter.

Unfortunately, I hear the topic change from the Erudite, to about me.

"What's up with her?" asks Tris, seeing me pondering my food.

"She was absent for most of the morning and didn't come back until after lunch," says Christina.

"Where was she?" asks Tris.

"With Eric," says Christina.

Will does a spittake and sputters, "What? Isobel with Eric?"

"She said that she had to help him with something but I think something is going on between these two," says Christina.

"I doubt it, it's evident she hates him like the rest of us," says Will, cleaning the mess he made in the table. "I just don't seeing her liking someone like that."

I shoot Will a grateful look, hoping that Christina might change the subject.

"She looked like she had been kissed yesterday," says Christina.

"How could you tell if someone has been kissed?" asks Will, causing him and Christina to debate.

Tris turns to me and asks, "Is there something going on between you and Eric?"

"Nothing serious," I say. "We're just acquaintances."

"What business were you helping him with this morning?" she asks. Boy, she's curious. Usually curiosity is for the Erudite. Did she get Erudite too?

"Nothing serious," I say. "Just helping him with evaluations for stage one."

Tris looks at me like she wants to ask more but she turns and talks to Al. It's obvious by her expression that she doesn't quite buy my story. Either she thinks Eric and I are in a relationship or up to something.

I'll be glad when dinner is over.

* * *

Thanks to Eric's directions, I navigated my way to the control room without trouble and upon entering, I realized Tobias was in the room, his eyes fixed on both the computer and the screens on the wall. One of the screens showed a view of the chasm.

I hesitate before approaching one of the computers and I sit down, typing in my login code that they put in the computer.

"Look, Four, I'm sorry for –" I begin to say.

"You don't have to apologize," I hear him say. "I thought you knew who I was when you and the other initiates arrived at the Dauntless compound."

I swiveled around in my seat and asked, "What gave away the fact that I knew who you were?"

"Your expression when I said _Stiffs eat plain food_," said Tobias. "As you said, how else could I have known? I didn't realize until that night that you could have correctly guessed that I was from Abnegation."

"You regret for saying too much?" I ask him.

"Eric would have told you anyway, due to that _bond _you have," he says.

"I don't see him as more than an acquaintance," I say, despite the fact that he saw us kiss yesterday.

"For an Erudite-born, you are slow to catch on to certain things," says Tobias, irritated. "You're just as bad as Tris I think."

"Catch on to what?" I demand.

"Eric _fancies _you," Tobias spits out. "It's obvious."

"How? He didn't seem interested in me when he transferred here two years ago," I say. Tobias must be mistaken.

"Two years ago, when he wasn't speculating about his rank, calling me a Stiff, and mock me, he would talk about that girl from Erudite named Isobel to his lackeys," says Tobias. "He hoped you would join him in Dauntless in two years. Fast forward to this year, you do."

"I don't understand," I say.

"He doesn't just hate Peter because they are alike," says Tobias. "From what I gathered, he hated his guts since he stepped in here. And that was before he watched how brutal Peter can be. If its not a sign that he sees Peter as competition when it comes to you, I don't know what it is."

Somehow, everything clicked especially Eric's hatred of Peter. Eric told me that I'll understand soon enough why he hates Peter so much then just job security. Eric sees Peter as a threat.

A romantic rival. Competition.

Why else would Eric steal a kiss from me yesterday, with me reciprocating? I then remembered my glare at the Dauntless girl that spoke to him in a flirtatious manner. I never knew why it even bothered me…

Was I jealous?

Things are becoming more complicated.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

As far as I can tell, the second stage of initiation involves sitting in a dark hallway with the other initiates, wondering what's going to happen behind a closed door.

I sit between Will and Christina. It's strange without Edward and Myra here. If it weren't for cowardly, jackass Peter, they would still be here. But what I heard, Myra was going to cut anyway. The Dauntless-born initiates and the transfers are separated during stage one, but we will be training together from now on. That's what Tobias told us before he disappeared behind the door.

"What is going on in that room?" Tris asks me.

"I don't know," I say, before the door opens.

"Isobel," Tobias calls. I lift myself from my seat and walk into the room where Tobias is training us for stage two. When I enter, I see a metal reclining chair and a computer attached.

A simulation test. Tobias did say that stage two will be emotional. So I'm guessing…

"We're facing our fears, right?" I ask him.

"This is the point of stage two," says Tobias. I sit on the reclining chair and close my eyes when he injects the needle to my neck.

* * *

I stand in what looks like a clear, large cylinder, placed in what looks like a library. The library of Erudite headquarters.

"Hello?" I ask, knocking on the wall of the cylinder. The silence and emptiness is eerie that I could feel a pin drop.

It doesn't take long until the walls of the cylinder turns from transparent to opaque steel. Soon, the walls slowly begin to cave in.

I have always been claustrophobic. Not as bad as others, but there were times where I felt the room was swallowing me up. I have never liked the fact that the book shelves were too close together at the library.

I'm not afraid of being swarmed by people. I'm afraid of the room and objects swallowing me up.

I lean against the wall of the cylinder as it caves in on me, increasing ever so slightly the smaller it gets. I try not to hyperventilate, and I breathe in and out slowly.

I feel the sweat dripping down my head as I use my feet to try to prevent the cylinder from crushing my body. I keep taking deep breaths, trying to calm down.

I open my eyes, still taking deep breaths, the sweat covering my skin.

"It's okay, you did a good job," says Tobias as I sit up. I feel like hyperventilating but I instead take deep breaths. "You're not the only one to fear closed spaces. Just take a walk."

I nod as I enter the exit the testing room through the backdoor.

_Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out_, I think to myself. I sit against the wall and rock back and forth, in a attempt to calm myself down.

"So, looks like Four is giving the initiates panic attacks," I hear Eric say. I look to see him leaning against an opened door.

"I'm trying to calm down," I say, breathing heavily. I don't want to look like a coward in front of someone like Eric.

Though I can't shake off the possibility that he is attracted to me.

"You need something warm to drink?" he asks. "Like warm milk?"

This is strange, even for Eric, who doesn't seem to give a damn about the initiates.

"Yes, please," I say, standing up.

Apparently, he still knows that a warm beverage can calm someone down. He comes back with a warm glass of milk and I sit down and down it in small gulps.

"Stage two is hard at first, even for the toughest initiates," says Eric, as I down a sip of warm milk.

"I took deep breaths to prevent myself from hyperventilating," I say.

"That's smart," says Eric. "Most initiates go into hysterics the first day."

"How did you handle the first day of stage two, during your initiation?" I ask.

"I prepared myself for it, unlike my two companions, who couldn't bear to face their fears," says Eric. "I'm not saying that I went through it unscathed. I had cold sweat by the end of it."

"What was your fear?" I ask.

"Something I prefer to keep private, though I recall someone telling me that Four was begging and sobbing during his first session," says Eric.

I'm guessing that Tobias had to relive his father beating him.

"Speaking of Four, I believe he accessed some confidential information," continues Eric. "Erudite sent war instructions to Dauntless. Apparently, someone didn't encrypt it well enough."

"How do you know if the files were read?" I ask.

"Have you ever read information that frightened you?" Eric asked me. "A few weeks ago before training started, Four looked as if he stumbled upon something frightening and big."

Aunt Jeanine did say weeks ago that she had plans for Abnegation. I'm sure she planned this for years and since she tested the Dauntless Simulation Serum with Rosalie's father, it will be soon before Erudite and Dauntless wage war on Abnegation. Eric did say last week that the serum will be injected around the time of the initiation ceremony. Knowing Aunt Jeanine, as soon as the transmitters are injected she'd want them activated as soon as possible.

In other words, Abnegation would be gone the day after initiation is over.

I know what it's like to be put under that simulation serum. Your mind is blank, unable to process thoughts and emotions. You can't hear. You can't see. You're in a blank-minded sleep, as a computer controls your movements.

I just stare at my cup of warm milk, and down a sip.

"If you need some light reading, Erudite released a report this morning," says Eric, plopping a paper in front of me. I set down my cup and lift it up to read. Of course, since it's about Abnegation, it's on the front page:

_**More Disturbing Revelations **_

_The mass exodus of the children of Abnegation leaders cannot be ignored or attributed to coincidence. The recent transfer of Beatrice and Caleb Prior, the children of Andrew Prior, calls into question the soundness of Abnegation's values and teachings. Why else would the children of such an important man decide that the lifestyle he has set out for them is not an admiral one? Molly Atwood, a fellow Dauntless transfer, suggests a disturbed and abusive upbringing might be to blame. 'I heard her talking in her sleep once,' Molly says. "She was telling her father to stop doing something. I don't know what it was, but it gave her nightmares."_

_However, perhaps the answer lies not in a morally bereft man, but in the corrupted ideals of an entire faction. Perhaps the answer is that we have entrusted our city to a group of proselytizing tyrants who do not know how to lead us out of poverty and into prosperity._

_The recent transfer of Robert Black to Amity also raises question. The fact that he left for a peaceful faction probably raises a question that Abnegation is not peaceful. However, we were unable to enter Amity for further comments about his transfer. _

So, this was Molly's revenge for losing to Tris causing a rank of sixth. I'm not a heavy sleeper most of the time, but I think I would have heard Tris thrash in her sleep. Molly doesn't learn a thing.

"Question: Do you think Molly would have heard Tris thrash in her sleep more than once?" I ask.

"It depends how close the proximity the bed is," says Eric. "Four was two beds away from me during initiation, and I would hear him thrashing in his bed."

My bed is across from Tris's and I think I would have heard her.

"I suggest you go to your dormitories to rest and we'll talk more after six," says Eric.

Upon entering my dormitory, I see that Peter and Molly are in the dormitory, looking over a paper with enthusiasm. I have no trouble guessing that it is the Erudite report that was released this morning.

I ignore them and I go to my bed and just close my eyes and minutes later, I'm awoken by people standing around the beds, both Dauntless-born and transfers alike, with Peter in the center, holding the paper.

When Tris comes in, he begins reading the report. Tris is frozen on the spot as I see Christina giving her a worried look. Tris's expression confirms that this article is all lies.

When Peter gets to the bit about her father, Tris demands, "What? _What_?"

Peter stops reading, and a few people turn around. Some have pitying looks; others, have little smirks and eyeing one another suggestively. Peter turns to her at last, with a wide smile.

"Give me that," she says, her face beet red.

"But I'm not done reading," he replies, laughter in his voice. I hop from my bed and elbow my way through the crowd and rip the paper out of his hands when he was about to read the second paragraph.

I hand the paper to Tris. She scans it before glaring at Molly and she stomps to her. Tris would have pounded on her had not Will restrained her.

"That's my _father_!" she screams. "That's my father, you coward!"

Will lifts Tris off the ground and drags her out of the room. Half of the room bursts into laughter.

"You never learn anything, do you?" I tell Molly before I stomp to the door.

"Isobel, wait," says Peter. I grab his shirt and slam him against the wall.

"Peter, do you realize what you're doing is alienating me?" I demand. "How can you possibly think that I'll like you after what you done?"

I feel two pairs of arms wrap around me and drag me away from Peter.

"Let me go, get off of me!" I scream, as they drag me from the room, as I try to get out of their grip.

Christina and Al drag me out of the dormitory. Will and Tris stop talking when they see us.

"What happened?" asked Will, as I shrug Christina and Al off me.

"Ms. Temperamental was about to give Peter a beat down," says Christina. Tris looks slightly disappointed, like she wishes I did.

I wish I did too. Peter deserves it.

"You know, I don't think it's good to exert yourself after the first day of emotional training," says Will.

"I had him," I panted, "and I would have punched him in the nose if you didn't stop me."

"Calm down and eat something," says Al. "That's what I do when I'm upset."

"Maybe," I say, walking away. I know if I turn the corner, they'll talk about me, but I don't care, even though it should bother me.

Since they know I know Eric and I know they hate him, I know that the closer we get, it will drive a wedge between me and my friends.

* * *

"I wonder how much Four saw," I said, looking at one of the Dauntless secure files on a computer screen in Eric's office. I'm hoping he didn't access too much. Otherwise they might kill him when the simulation starts.

"I'm guessing enough," says Eric. "Enough to make him tense."

I slam my palms on the computer desk. If it weren't for Peter's cowardice, my initiation would have been slightly easier.

"What's a matter?" Eric asks me.

"Peter," I say flatly. "I'll be glad when initiation is over, that way I wouldn't have to deal with him."

"He's an idiot, I admit," says Eric. "I wasn't ranked first after stage one. I was tempted to get rid of my competition, but I knew I would get into trouble if I did so. I sulked about it instead."

During Eric's initiation, I'm sure he was like Peter: mocking the Abnegation-born transfer, cocky, surrounded himself with muscular initiates, and had a complex of being ranked first. But Eric is smarter than Peter and would be smart enough to know that an incident like stabbing out an initiate's eye with a butter knife could affect his ranking with the possibility of being cut.

Why couldn't I have been the same age as Eric and transferred to Dauntless with him. I would tolerate him better than Peter.

"He's a coward," I say. "A fruitcake. I regret for not breaking his wrist when he tried killing Edward."

"If he acts foolish when I'm around, I'm sure I can be of assistance," says Eric smirking.

I laugh.

After I contained the laughter, I continued looking through the Erudite documents.

"Remember when we used to come to your house and we would read the books in your dad's office?" he asks.

While Eric and I were not friends, we did read together, often going into my dad's office and read the books. We would sit for hours, reading encyclopedias, sitting side by side, our elbows touching, passing a book back and forth.

"Yes, I do," I say. "You would race me there, causing my parents to scold us."

"I was never fully satisfied with Erudite," says Eric. "Sure, I liked the advantage of reading, but I felt pent up, not being able to fully express my personality."

I know what he meant: having to pent up your temper. Years ago, if Eric was upset about something, he would rewrite a phrase on a piece of paper, but I don't think that kept his stress down, given his past tendency of slamming doors. I just realize that this initiation, that certain people and acts would cause me to lose my temper.

"I don't fit into Erudite either, because I'm too jovial and hot tempered," I say.

The reason the Erudite wear blue is because it is scientifically proven that the color blue calms the mind, clearing it for knowledge. A calm mind is a clear mind.

I'm certainly not a calm person at times. Eric can be calm, but he could be hot tempered at times.

Both of us belong here. We are both are adrenaline junkies, our Erudite intelligence underneath it.

* * *

**Sorry if this wasn't good.**


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**More Eric/Isobel action. Steamy this time. Coordinates with "Chapter 21" of **_**Divergent**_**.**

* * *

The next two days have been slightly better than day one of stage two, but the fears have eaten me up.

My first fear was having small spaces cave in on me; my second fear portrayed me climbing a tree, only to have Peter saw the tree down as soon as I was about to reach the top of the tree.

My second fear, as Tobias explained, was achieving something only for someone else to ruin it, a fear I acquired since the incident with Peter and the butter knife.

Today, day three of stage two, I have entered the simulation again. This time it's by the fence surrounding the city, and I have a gun in my hand. I hear the click of another gun behind me and I turn around to see Eric pointing a gun at me.

"Go on," he says with his usual smirk. "It's either you or me."

I know what he means, either he kills me or I kill him. Either way, both choices are bad.

"You have two choices. Either you shoot or I shoot," says Eric. "If you don't, you're a coward."

I hold my gun up at him. However, he is still pointing his gun at me.

As we are both about to pull the trigger, I wake up, sitting in the metal reclining chair. Tobias computes the data, looking taxed.

He sends me out of the room without a word.

* * *

"What a day," says Will, putting his fork into his chocolate cake.

"I hope your simulation wasn't as bad as mine," says Christina.

From my peripheral vision, I see Peter take Drew's slice of chocolate cake and he shovels it down before Drew could even put his fork in it to take a bite.

"He must like chocolate," says Christina.

"Well, maybe he joined Dauntless because of the cake," says Tris.

"Just like how you joined for the food, Tris," Christina jokes to her.

Tris laughs a little.

"Creepy instructor alert," says Christina.

"Who?" I ask.

"If Peter is failing to hit on you, he has serious competition," says Christina. I look around to see Eric at the same table the same as Tobias. Both are sitting at opposite ends, sitting far away from each other. Eric is talking with someone and every once and a while he would glance at me.

"Why is Eric looking at you like that?" asks Christina.

"He's probably trying to see that we do not fight," I say.

However, I can't shake the feeling that he is attracted to me.

And I like him as well.

* * *

Day four: I face a fear of uncontrollable bleeding. Day 5: it is trying to find my way through pitch black darkness, never leaving it. Day six: Running through rings of fire and getting burned.

Meanwhile after all of this, I'm either in the control room after six (keeping with the cover story) or doing minor work in Eric's office for the hour he is gone to leader meetings.

Probably to discuss war against Abnegation and our agreement with the Erudite.

Erudite has released two reports this week, and I ball up the paper each time, not believing a word of it.

Today, I find myself shivering uncontrollably. I'm not fond of the heat. I don't mind the cold, but I have always been nervous of bitter, bitter cold. I crouch in a ball, trying to warm my body and I'm still shivering when the simulation is over.

"It's over," says Tobias, as I sit up from the metal chair. I still can't erase the memory of being in extreme cold as I leave the simulation room.

* * *

This afternoon most of us into the dormitory as Eric is here to make a progress report of our ranks.

"Just to inform you, this is a progress report of your ranking, as the final cuts will be made after the end of stage three," says Eric. "Stage two differed from stage one because it is emotional rather than physical. The ranks are determined by the average simulation time and how well you calmed down, meaning that if someone was ranked a seventh after stage one could be given a higher ranking. Stage one was to determine your physical skills in combat. Stage two was facing your fears and calming down in the face of them. The final stage will be weighted more heavily, as it will focus on the number of fears you have and how to resolve them. Keep that in mind."

Tris comes in, wondering what happened, as she sees Eric writing the ranks with a piece of chalk and she stands next to Will.

"What's going on?" she whispers.

"Rankings for stage two," he answers.

"I thought there weren't any cuts after stage two," she hisses.

"There aren't. It's just a progress report, sort of," says Will.

She nods.

After writing a few more names down, Eric hangs the chalkboard on the nail, steps back, and all the chatter stops.

Tris is first, Peter is second, and I'm third. My average simulation time was ten minutes, Tris was almost three minutes, and Peter's was eight minutes.

"Nice job, Tris," I hear Will say quietly.

All heads glance at Tris, while Peter looks at the board with shock, like he hoped his eyes were deceiving him, before he turns to Eric.

"But Four said when he released the ranks for stage one, that it will be difficult for someone with a lower ranking to achieve a higher ranking," says Peter, looking incredibly baffled. Like he was hoping that there was a mix-up. That he couldn't possibly be ranked second _again_.

"If you are outranked by a Stiff, that's your problem," says Eric, pocketing the piece of chalk. "You would have gotten first had it not been for your stupidity involving the butter knife. As I said earlier, the ranks are determined by the average simulation time. I'm sure half of you were deaf when I made that clear."

Eric leaves the room before Peter looks and turns to glare at Tris.

This isn't going to be good. He'll do worse to her then Edward.

Peter grabs Tris and slams her against the wall.

"I will not be outranked by a Stiff," he hisses. "How did you do it, huh? How did you do it?"

He slams her against the wall before Will and I pull him off.

"Leave her alone," Will says. "Only a coward bullies a little girl."

"A little girl?" scoffs Peter, throwing us off him. "Are you blind, or just stupid? She's going to edge you out of the rankings and out of _Dauntless_, and you're going to get _nothing_, all because she knows how to manipulate people and you don't. So when you realize that she's out to ruin us, let me know."

Peter leaves with his lackeys and Will and Christina glance at her. Christina has a mixture of betrayal and resentment in her eyes. Didn't they just realize that Peter was strategizing getting rid of Tris?

Al just looks down, with his hands in his pockets.

"Thanks," Tris says to Will.

"Is he right?" asks Will quietly. ""Are you trying to manipulate us?"

"How on earth would I do that?" she scoffs. "I'm just doing the best I can, like everyone else."

"I don't know," he shrugs a little. "By acting weak so we can pity you? And then acting tough to psyche us out?"

"Psyche you out?" she repeats. "I'm your _friend_. I wouldn't do that."

"Don't be an idiot, Will," says Christina. She looks at Tris without sympathy and adds, "She's not acting."

I let out an unpleasant laugh. Maybe Peter does belong in Erudite, because Christina and Will ate up his bullshit.

"What?" Christina asks me.

I look at her and say, "Did you just take the word of a coward who used a butter knife to get rid of Edward over your friend?"

"Well, maybe he's right," says Christina.

"Erudite has plenty advantages that Candor doesn't," I say. "Tris was trying to adapt to her surroundings. And to remind you, this was emotional training, not physical."

"Thing is, you don't know about manipulation," says Christina. "You're not Candor."

I bark a bitter laugh and say, "I read about manipulation and persuasion and I've seen it. My aunt does it all the time. I'm sure Peter knows and he's playing you for fools."

"Playing us?" says Will.

"He knows Tris would be defenseless without you," I say. "He knows that if he turns you against her, he'll get to her easily. Remember what happened to Edward? He could do the same to her, but worse. I guarantee it. I thought you had sense, Christina. I didn't know you would be so stupid to take the word of a pathological liar over your friend."

"But –" begins Christina.

"Or are you just jealous that Tris is ranked higher then you and that's why you believe a coward?" I ask. "What matters more, your friend or your ranking? I would rather have a low rank then be factionless. Were you deaf? Eric said that the rankings for stage two was determined on simulation time, so it would be illogical to achieve a rank you don't earn. I guess you would rather have your Abnegation-born friend have a low rank because you think because of the lifestyle of her old faction that she doesn't deserve it. She's worked hard. It's called adapting to one's environment. Also, as I can recall, jealousy can be a dangerous thing, which is the reason why Peter stabbed Edward in the eye with a butter knife."

I turn my heel and dart towards the door.

"Isobel, wait," says Christina.

"Save it," I spit out as I grab the door handle.

"Where are you going?" she asks as I open the door.

"To find some sanity until you realize Peter was playing you and until you grow up," I say before I slammed the door.

I fast walk in the hallway and when I see Peter and Drew, I spit out," I don't buy your bullshit one bit, Peter. You have any idea where I originate from?"

I keep on walking through the corridors of the compound until I find myself heading up to the glass building above the compound, and my feet trace themselves to the door of Eric's apartment.

I knock on the door. I hear his footsteps approach the door and he opens it.

"Oh, it's just you," he says. "For a moment I thought you were Four."

"May I come in?" I ask.

"Yes," he says, opening the door wider. "Jeanine doesn't come until tonight."

I enter his apartment and slump on his couch.

"So, what's bugging Isobel, lately?" asks Eric.

"That Candor people can be so stupid," I say. "Christina and Will probably ate up Peter's bullshit about Tris."

"Sulking because he didn't make number one?" asks Eric, sitting next to me.

"He's turning Tris's friends against her," I say. "I know you don't care about Tris, but I know a strategy when I see one."

"One way for them to know is for something to happen," says Eric, "then you could remind them 'I told you so'."

As much as I don't like his suggestion, I know he has a point. Will and Christina will know I was right only if Peter attempts to do something to Tris.

"I hate Peter," I mutter.

"He's an idiot, I can assure you," says Eric.

The thing is, Eric is everything I don't want: arrogant, malicious, and ruthless, but the thing is, I can't deny that I like him. And it wasn't because he stole a kiss from me a week ago, though it sparked some flames.

"Do you know why I resent him?" asks Eric.

"Because he might have the same position as you?" I ask.

"It's more than that," he scoffs. "Two years ago, the day of my aptitude test, I saw him hitting on you in the corridors at school. Even though you didn't respond to him, I was tempted to go and punch his teeth out and I would have had Isidor hadn't escorted me away. It took me a few hours to realize why it bothered me."

So this wasn't recent. His hatred of Peter began two years ago. Tobias did tell me that Eric hated Peter's guts the second Peter entered the Dauntless compound.

In fact, I remember that day. I was fourteen, and Peter, as usual, tried to hit on me. Eric, who was walking ahead of me, turned and just glared at Peter and I saw Isidor pushing Eric ahead so he wouldn't punch Peter.

The thing is, I didn't know I liked Eric either until the night when we played capture the flag, when the Dauntless-born initiate acted flirtatious towards him. I didn't realize it until Tobias revealed that Eric was attracted to me.

"I remember when you said I would understand why you hate Peter so much," I say.

"Did you think I was going to allow him to take you to the infirmary?" asks Eric. "Especially after he made you vomit on the fighting platform?"

I just sit in silence. I don't know what I should do? Tell Eric I like him too? He's just admitted that he had feelings since the day he took his aptitude test. I want to feel his kiss again.

"Thinking?" he asks.

"Yes," I say.

"About what?" he asks.

I pause. I don't know whether I should tell him that I like him like he likes me.

"Come on, spit it out," he says.

"Well, maybe I like you as well," I say. He places my head in his hands and kisses me on the lips. I return the kiss, putting my hands on his shoulders.

Unlike our first kiss, it feels as if I kissed him more than once.

Our lips separate and I look into his eyes.

"Eric, you're a complicated person," I tell him.

"Good thing you're not thick in the head," he says, his eyes looking down at my lips.

He captures my lips again, rougher this time. My heart hammers in my chest, as I wrap my arms around his neck. The blood rushes to the surface and I feel him lift me from the couch. I instinctively wrap my legs around his waist and I later feel my head touching something soft.

His bed.

Eric hovers over me and says, "You're not a normal initiate. You never were."

He's right, since I was instructed by my aunt to choose Dauntless. When he said that, I know that initiates have never hooked up with instructors or Dauntless leaders.

We kiss fervently, my hands digging into his vest. I feel his hands drop to the sides of my waist. I read that making out can lead more than just kissing.

His fingers move to hem of my black, long-sleeved shirt, and I feel the fabric move up my torso. I raise my arms and I hear a soft thump of fabric on the floor. His hands reach behind my back and feel the bra unclip before the white cotton material is slipped from my body.

At this point, I roll us over, that way I'm lying on top of him.

"We shouldn't be doing this, you know," I tell Eric. "You're a leader and I'm just an initiate."

For some reason, it doesn't seem to faze me that he's fully clothed while I'm half naked from the waist up. This makes me want to feel his skin against mine.

"I don't care," he says, smirking, as he runs his hand on my bare back. "I think I prefer you beneath me…just so I could see your hair tumble under your head."

He rolls us over on the bed and crushes my lips with his. I stifle a groan coming from my throat.

I fumble with the buttons on his vest as I button it and push it off his shoulders before he takes off his shirt.

I now feel his bare torso against mine. Eric's lips leave mine and I feel them trail down the side of my neck. I keep my eyes closed as I arch my back. I could feel his arousal on my leg.

I feel his fingers trace to my zipper and it's not long before I hear my pants unzip followed by him pushing them down my legs. He takes my shoes and socks off before I hear the thud of fabric on the floor.

Most couples wait for sex when their relationships are in full flower, but when you make out with someone, it often leads to sex.

I fumble with his fly as I unzip it and I pull down his boxers along with his pants and I see that he is rather _big_.

Now this will be painful.

After his boots, socks, and pants clatter to the floor, he peels the flimsy, cotton fabric of my underwear and pulls it down before discarding it to the floor.

Now, there is a mass of black fabric mixed with some white fabric scattered on the floor by his bed.

He positions himself and grabs my hips to lift them up. His fingers press my skin so hard, I know they'll be bruises.

This is Eric we're talking about, so I can't expect him to be gentle.

"This is going to hurt," he whispers in my ear. "Do you want me to count from three to one, initiate?"

"There's no need to," I say. "Just do me hard."

He chuckles in my ear and I feel him spreading my legs apart until he enters me.

I gasp out of pain and pleasure and I dig my fingers into his back as he roughly thrusts into me. I hear and feel the bed jerking under us due to our movements.

Our hot breaths touch each other's faces and our kisses our rough and demanding.

He starts moving rougher and faster and I can hear him panting. The brushes of each other's bodies as well as our rough passion cause our skin to perspire.

When I climax, I let out a gasp and he comes shortly after and I soon him filling me with his seed with every last drop.

He collapses beside me and I myself breathe heavily as a result of the passion that transpired between us.

Eric leans over towards me and smirks at me.

"Tuckered out?" he asks.

I lean towards him and say, "Sore, but I'm satisfied."

This was our first time and it felt somewhat awkward, but it's not a lie that I enjoyed our bout of rough sex.

Eric tucks a lock of my hair behind my ear and his lips take mine in a rough kiss.

* * *

I walk towards the control room, making sure that my hair wasn't mussed up. After our five minute long make-out session that came after our lovemaking, I took a shower in his apartment while he went to his office fully clothed and I stayed the rest of the afternoon in Eric's apartment.

Tobias was already there when I entered. Both of us kept an eye on our computers and the screens above, neither of us talking.

On one screen I see Eric talking with Aunt Jeanine down the hallway as they head to his office to review Tris's simulation testing.

I look away from the screen and five minutes later, something catches my eye.

Three figures, all male, are carrying a blindfolded girl as they walk towards the railing of the chasm. One of them is acting extremely reluctant and a second later, I recognize the girl they are carrying.

"Four, you better look at this," I say. He turns and stands by me as he watches what is unfolding.

Rage is on his features and he runs in a flash, with me at his feet.

We run towards the corridors that lead to the chasm and I hide in the dark as he runs towards the chasm. A minutes later, I see Al running, panting heavily and when I see Peter, I don't wait.

I grab the collar of his shirt and throw him against the wall.

"I knew it! I knew you were turning her friends against her just it would be easier to kill her," I shout in his face.

"Why would I do that? I was just trying to scare her," Peter says, panic on his features.

"Oh, so you were trying to scare Edward too when you lodged a butter knife into his brain, you liar!" I say before I punch him in the nose. He doesn't try to stop me when I proceed to kick him in the face and ribs.

I stop when I feel a hand touch my shoulder and Eric says, "Enough."

I back away as Eric approaches Peter, who's curled up, and Eric looks satisfied at the sight.

He picks up Peter and I follow.

Did Eric hear because earlier he was with Aunt Jeanine. Either he was trying to fetch Max when he heard the scuffle or what.

* * *

**I hope I kept the characters In-Character. What do you think about that extra bit of dialogue between Eric and Peter?**


	16. Chapter Sixteen

Eric deposits Peter into the infirmary, where Drew already is, beaten up pretty badly as well.

Injuries curiosity of Tobias.

Eyeing Drew, Eric says, "I'll be asking questions tomorrow."

Eric takes my upper arm and leads me out of the infirmary.

"Now, can you tell me what happened?" he asks me.

"Four and I saw Peter, Drew, and Al carry Tris to the chasm at the control room," I say.

"Al?" asks Eric, and he laughs. "Why him? He's nothing but a wuss."

"He acted very reluctant," I say. I don't think Al helped out willingly. Peter most likely pressured him into it, most likely by threatening him.

"That makes more sense, considering that he is too _soft _for Dauntless," says Eric. Tobias approaches us.

"Anything on the Stiff?" asks Eric.

"She's somewhere safe, as I don't think it's safe for her to be in the dormitory tonight," says Tobias.

"You're lucky, Isobel here pummeled Peter before he could run any further," says Eric. Tobias turns to me and I see that he is fighting not to smile. It's like Eric wants to know where Tobias placed Tris.

"Hopefully you're not going to let Peter get off scot-free like last time," says Tobias.

"I'll be giving them a long talk in my office tomorrow," says Eric. "This is going to affect their ranking when the final cuts are announced."

"They better be," says Tobias before he walks away.

Once he is out of sight, Eric leads me down to the door that leads to the dormitory and steps in front of the door.

"Jeanine viewed the simulation data and she discovered that one of them was not recorded," says Eric. "A day long gap between day one and day three of stage two."

"Does this confirm Tris's Divergence?" I say, the last word a whisper.

"What do you think? Of course it does," says Eric irritated. "I know you are not stupid."

"Do you think Four deliberately destroyed the other simulation?" I ask.

"It's obvious, since he has feelings for the Stiff," says Eric in his calculating manner. "Part of me thinks he's a Divergent too, but was too clever to hide it during initiation."

Tobias Eaton a Divergent. That would explain why he received Abnegation but chose Dauntless. The main reason was to get away from his abusive father.

"How did you know I was beating up Peter?" I ask. "You were with Aunt Jeanine seeing the simulations."

"I was showing her the data when someone tipped me off about a scuffle somewhere near the chasm," says Eric. "I left Jeanine with Max to view the recorded footage."

Oh. That's how. I don't answer.

"I think you should go to bed," says Eric and I feel him pressing his lips on my forehead.

"Goodnight," I say.

"Goodnight," he says, and I watch him leave. I slip into the dormitory and slip into my bed, my clothes still on. I would rather be in Eric's bed, as it felt more comfortable than being here.

I don't feel safe here anymore. Not after Edward lost his eye due to a butter knife and then Tris nearly being thrown into the chasm.

Al's sobs fill the night as I fall asleep.

* * *

"Al, what's a matter?" I hear Christina ask him as we get ready for the day.

"Nothing," says Al, stifling his sobs.

I tighten the laces on my boots, as way to ignore Christina until I hear her ask, "Will, where's Tris?"

"I don't know," says Will, sounding concerned. "She went to bed before we did and I thought I saw her leave the dormitory when I was drifting in and out of sleep."

"Peter and Drew are gone too," acknowledges Christina before she realizes something. "Hopefully they didn't do anything to her."

"Then Isobel was right yesterday," says Will. "Peter was strategizing to make sure she was defenseless."

Hopefully they didn't realize just now. All of us file out of the dormitory and Christina taps my shoulder.

"Yes?" I ask.

"Will and I talked about what you said before you stormed out," says Christina. "We concluded that you were right. I can't believe I actually bought what Peter said about Tris. What was I thinking?"

"This initiation is bringing out the worst in everyone," I say. What have I done? Beat up Peter twice and thrown Drew on a bed frame, but they deserved it. "Did you talk to Tris yesterday?"

"No," says Christina. "Will and tried to follow you after you stormed out but we couldn't find you and Tris was with the Dauntless-born."

I think Christina shouldn't know that I slept with Eric at his apartment.

"I just took a walk," I say casually.

"That must have been a long walk," she says. "Hopefully you didn't get into trouble."

"Eric was upset," I say. "He treated me to a half hour long scolding about how careless I have been."

The bed. His skin over mine. The way the bed was jerking under us.

"It's a wonder you didn't get into trouble," says Christina.

We file into the dining hall and I sit at the table with Will and Christina. I put toast and eggs on my plate and I'm putting blueberry jelly on my toast when I see Tris slump next to Will. A Dauntless-born, who I learned is Uriah, sits next to Tris.

Over her shoulder, I see that Peter was released from the infirmary. He has a black eye, split lip, and a bandage over his nose. He and Molly are sitting at the table behind us.

"What happened?" Will asks quietly to Tris.

She looks over his shoulder to look at Peter before trying to reach a piece of toast without succeeding. "Peter, Drew…" she says quietly, "And…" She gulps. "And Al.

"Oh, god," says Christina, her eyes wide.

"Are you alright?" Uriah asks her.

Before Peter can look at Tris, his eyes find mine and he quickly looks down at his toast.

"Not really," she says, her eyes watering up.

"But you're just…" Uriah purses his lips. "It isn't fair. Three against one?"

"Yeah, and Peter is all about what's fair. That's why he grabbed Edward in his sleep and stabbed him in the eye," Christina snorts.

"And lodged the blade in his brain," I continue, before taking a bite of my toast.

Christina looks at Tris and says, "Al, though? Are you sure, Tris?"

Tris stares down at her plate. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"It has to be desperation," says Will. "He's been acting…I don't know. Like a different person. Ever since stage two."

Then Drew shuffles in. His face is swollen and purple, like yesterday.

"Someone woke up sore this morning," I say. Tris looks at him, drops her toast, and her mouth drifts open. Drew keeps his eyes on the floor. Tobias has a satisfied smile.

"Did _you _do that?" Will hisses.

Tris shakes her head and I says, "No. Someone – I never saw who – found me right before…" she gulps before continuing "…I got tossed into the chasm."

"They were going to _kill _you?" Christina says in a low voice.

"Maybe. They might have been planning on dangling me over it just to scare me." Tris lifts a shoulder. "It worked."

"That's bullshit, Tris," I say. "He was planning to kill you. He probably was planning that ever since Eric announced the ranks yesterday."

Christina gives her a sad look. Will just glares at the table.

"We have to do something about this," says Uriah in a low voice.

"What, like beat them up?" Christina grins. "Looks like that's been taken care already."

"No. That's pain they can get over," replies Uriah. "We have to edge them out of the rankings. That will damage their futures. Permanently."

Tobias gets up and stands between the tables. Conversation abruptly ceases.

"Transfers. We're doing something different today," he says. "Follow me."

We stand.

"Be careful," he tells Tris.

"Don't worry," says Will. "We'll protect her."

* * *

Tobias leads us out of the dining hall and along the paths that surround the Pit.

"I never really said I was sorry," I hear Christina tell Tris, "about yesterday. I never knew I would allow Peter to get into me like that. Good thing for Isobel. I'm just glad she caught it or else Will and I would have left. I was jealous, and it was childish. I'm sorry."

Tris pauses before she says, "Let's just forget about it."

I don't suppress a smile.

We climb higher than I've gone before, and I keep looking up ahead, not trying to look down.

Tobias turns around and walks backward a few steps – backward, on a narrow path will no railing. How well does he know this place?

He eyes Drew, who trudges at the back of the group, and says, "Pick up the pace, Drew!"

I can't help but chuckle. I look over my shoulder to see that Peter is managing a little better then Drew, unfortunately. We get closer and closer to the glass ceiling, and I see the sun. Tobias walks up the flight of stairs leading through a hole in the ceilings. They creak under my feet, and I look down to see the Pit and the chasm below us.

We walk across the glass through the cylindrical room with glass walls. The abandoned buildings are very good at hiding the Dauntless compound.

Tobias leads us through another door. Beyond it is a huge, dank space with graffitied walls and exposed pipes. The room is lit by a series of fluorescent tubes with plastic covers.

"This," says Tobias, "is a different kind of simulation known as the fear landscape. It has been disabled for our purposes, so this isn't what it will be like the next time you see it."

Behind him, the word _Dauntless _is spray-painted in red artistic lettering on a concrete wall.

"Through your simulations, we have stored data about your worst fears. The fear landscape accesses that data and presents you with a series of virtual obstacles. Some of the obstacles will be fears you previously faced in your simulations. Some may be new fears. The difference is that you're aware, in the fear landscape, that this is a simulation, so you will have to use your wits about you as you go through it.

"The number of fears you have your fear landscape varies according to how many you have."

How many fears will I have? I shudder, thinking about Eric and I pointing guns at each other.

"I told you before that the third stage of initiation focuses on the mental preparation," says Tobias. "That is because it requires to control both your emotions and your body – to combine the physical abilities you learned in stage one with the emotional mastery you learned in stage two. To keep a level head." I see him focusing his stare at Tris.

"Next week you will go through your fear landscape as quickly as possible in front of a panel of Dauntless leaders. That will be your final test, which determines your ranking for stage three. Just as stage two of initiation is weighted more heavily than stage one, stage three is weighted heaviest of all of them. Understood?"

We all nod.

Those who are emotionally and mentally brave have a higher chance of staying in Dauntless, unlike Drew and Molly, who were only ready for stage one.

"You can get past each obstacle in one of two ways. Either you find a way to calm down enough that the stimulation registers a normal, steady heartbeat, pr you find a way to face your fear, which can force the simulation to move on. One way to face a fear of drowning is to swim deeper, for example." Tobias shrugs. "So I suggest that you take the next week to consider you fears and develop strategies to face them."

"That doesn't sound fair," says Peter. "What if one person only has seven fears and someone else has twenty. That's not their fault."

The pure nerve of him.

Tobias stares at him for a few seconds and then laughs. "Do you really want to talk to me about what is fair?"

The crowd of initiates parts to make way for him as he walks towards Peter, folds his arms, and says, in a deadly voice, "I understand why you're worried, Peter. The events of last night certainly prove that you are a miserable coward."

Peter stares back, expressionless.

"So now we all know," says Tobias quietly, "that you are afraid of a skinny girl from Abnegation." His mouth curls into a smile.

I can't help but form a smirk on my lips.

* * *

When we get back to the dormitory that afternoon, I see that Al was here. He was absent during breakfast and during lunch when Eric interrogated he, Drew, and Al.

He looks as if he cried for a longtime.

Tris tenses when she sees him, with Will standing behind her and lightly touching her shoulders. Her nose is slightly wrinkled when she looks at Al. Christina edges closer to her.

"Tris," says Al, his voice breaking. "Can I talk to you?"

"Are you kidding?" says Will, squeezing her shoulders. "You don't get to come near her again."

"I won't hurt you. I never wanted to…" Al covers his face with both hands. "I just want to say that I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I don't…I don't know what's wrong with me, I…please forgive me, _please_…"

He reaches for Tris like he wants to hold her hand, his face wet with tears.

I remember his extreme reluctance when he helped carry Tris to the chasm. Looking back I noticed that he looked like he was in distress and it appeared like one of his eyes was black. What did Peter to him to coerce him into helping them to try to throw Tris off the chasm?

I move forward but Christina shakes her head at me, like she knows that I was planning to comfort him. Maybe I have some Amity in me.

Tris considers him before her expression turns cold and unforgiving.

"Stay away from me," she says quietly. "Never come near me again. If you do, I swear to god, I will kill you. You coward."

Coward? I'm sorry, but what is cowardly about being pressured into trying to help murder your friend? She probably thinks he should have helped her, but not everyone is cut out to resist peer pressure. Maybe he tried standing up to Peter, but chickened out because Peter threatened him.

I find myself turning a heel and walking from the room. I had enough. Shouldn't real friends talk with their friends about what happened, because that is the logical thing to do?

Natalie is right. I have plenty of Erudite in me but I have a little more Dauntless to coordinate with it.


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**Warning: suicide.**

* * *

I crawl on my mattress, ready for sleep. After storming out of the dormitory, I battered a punching bag for a half hour before going to the tattoo parlor. It is the Dauntless symbol. While my first tattoo, the Erudite symbol, is on my upper right forearm, this one is on my lower back. I even have piercings on my upper right ear.

I understand why Tris is upset, I would be too, but the logical way would have been to sit down with Al and ask, "Why? Why did you help Peter and Drew attack me and almost toss me over the chasm?"

What I miss about Erudite is the logic and academic lifestyle. I was taught in school that if your friend hurts you or if you friend helps your rival to hurt you, ask them why. That's what I would do.

What wakes me up is the scurrying of feet outside the dormitory, and apparently, I'm not the only one who is awoken by it.

"Why is everyone running outside?" Will asks.

"I don't know," says Christina.

"Let's go check it out then," I say, pushing away my bedcovers. Out the door, I noticed that Al's bed was empty and that there was a folded piece of paper on the bed. I take the paper and follow Christina and Will out the dormitory.

My bare feet are touching the Pit floor as we rush to the crowd that is surrounding the ledge that surrounds the chasm. I stand on my tiptoes to see two men in the process of dropping ropes into the chasm.

"Clear away when we bring the body up!" shouts Max, walking across the Pit, with Eric and another Dauntless leader behind him.

"What's going on?" someone shouts.

"One of the initiates jumped off into the chasm," answers Eric.

An initiate? Then it occurred to me. Al's empty bed.

He couldn't possibly have…?

I thought I hear Christina sob followed by the scurrying of her feet. Thinking that the paper in my hands held the answers, I unfolded it…

_Dear whoever reads this,_

_ By this time I'm gone. I can't live with myself anymore. Not after Peter threatened me if I didn't help him and Drew with their sick plan of hurting Tris. It hurts me that she doesn't understand. Why didn't she pause and think 'Why did my best friend help hurt me?' I tried standing up to Peter, and that's when he threatened me. I was afraid that he might too try to toss me off the chasm. I thought about quitting initiation and living factionless, but that meant that I would have to live with myself. I know it's cowardly, but death seems to be the only option for me._

_ Al._

At this point, Christina, followed by Tris, returns. They both stand at the ledge when the two Dauntless men are hoisting something up with ropes at the edge of the ledge. The two men grunt from the effort, heaving their weight back so the ropes slide over the railing, and then reaching forward to grab again. A huge, dark shape appears above the ledge, and a few Dauntless rush forward to help the two men haul it over.

The shape falls with a thud on the Pit floor. A dead body bloated from the water, the eyes open and empty, lips blue. Al. Christina turns to Tris sobbing while I find myself staring at the corpse of a boy that was too kind for Dauntless.

"Yep, one of the initiates," says someone. "What happened?"

"Same thing that happens every year," someone else replies. "He pitched himself over the railing."

"Don't be so morbid. Could have been an accident."

"They found him in the middle of the chasm. You think he tripped over his shoelaces and…whoopsies, just _stumbled _fifteen feet forward?"

I can't see this anymore. I can't stand here and wait for them to bring the body bag. Turning my heel, I run into the direction of the dormitory.

* * *

Eric hands me a black flask at his apartment.

"Just don't drink too much," he says. "I doubt your body is not used to liquor."

I flip open the top and cautiously take a sip. I smell it before I taste it for the first time. Scotch. I never drank, but alcohol is appropriate for this situation than just a warm drink. I know it's Scotch because I have smelled it before during dinner years back before my transfer.

Eric told me that when someone dies in Dauntless, they acknowledge the death as soon as it happens. In Erudite, funerals are a somber occasion. We wait until the death sinks in before we hold a funeral.

"You know why he did it?" Eric asks.

"He couldn't live himself after the incident in the chasm," I say. I taste bile. First Peter stabbed Edward in the butter knife, he nearly threw Tris off the chasm, and then his peer pressure caused Al to pitch himself off the railing.

"So he thought death was better than being factionless," says Eric. "I didn't think he make it anyway."

As depressing as Al's death was, I'm thankful that he won't be among those who would be given the simulation serum. After stage one, Edward and Myra became factionless, then Al pitched himself off the bridge, lowering our numbers to seven.

I hand Eric back the flask, my hands shaking in the process. I know when I'm shaking, I'm about to have hysterics, something that doesn't happen often. Eric notices and says, "Calm down, just take deep breaths okay."

I try but I'm still hyperventilating. When I stand up, my legs shake, threatening to give way.

Eric resorts to picking me up. "You're going to lose your balance if you stand like that."

He takes me out of the apartment. It feels weird being held bridal style by him. People wouldn't easily see him doing that due to his nature. I hang on to his neck as he goes down the Pit carrying me. Everyone is there, drunk by the looks of it

From a distance I see Christina looking at us with curious eyes before she whispers something to Will. Tris is with them and I see that Molly has earned herself a black eye. What did she do now?

"Are you sure you can stand?" Eric asks.

I nod and he sets me on my feet before heading to the box next to the railing. I run to meet with Christina, Will, and Tris.

"What was that we just saw?" Christina asks. She just was curious.

"Later," I whisper, as Eric climbs into the box next to the railing. Tris crosses her arms, giving him a speculative look.

"Quiet down, everyone!" shouts Eric. Someone hits what sounds like a gong, and the shouts gradually stop, though the mutters don't. Eric says, "Thank you. As you know, we're here because Albert, an initiate, jumped into the chasm last night."

The mutters stop, leaving just the rush of water in the chasm.

"We don't know why," says Eric (though he does know. Probably is trying to conceal the reason why), "and it would be easy to mourn the loss of him tonight. But we do not choose a life of ease when we became Dauntless. And the truth is…" Eric looks at me and smiles, but since I'm between Tris and Christina, nobody would know that the smile was for one person. Just as I suspected, Tris looks coldly at him, obviously thinking that the smile was not genuine. "The truth is, Albert is now exploring an unknown, certain place. He leaped into the vicious waters to get there. Who among us is brave enough to venture into darkness without knowing what lies beyond it? Albert was not yet one of our members, but we can be assured that he was one of our _bravest_!"

The Dauntless cheer, and whoop. Their roar mimics the roar of the water. I listened to Eric's words and analyzed them. When he meant that Al was willing to get himself killed, he's actually saying for that for the first time, Al was willing to get himself gravely hurt, bringing back memory of when Eric wanted Al to get his knife when everyone else was throwing knives, something that could have gotten him killed.

"We celebrate him now, and remember him always!" yells Eric. Someone hands him a dark bottle, and he lifts it. "To Albert the Courageous!"

"To Albert!" shouts the crowd. Arms lift all around me, and the Dauntless chant his name until I can barely decipher the words. Tris shakes her head before leaving the railing. I want to stay and pay my respects, but I can't do so in a crowd of chanting Dauntless. I just slowly back away and exit the Pit and I keep walking until I go up into the glass building and go outside.

I just sit, my legs crossed, back against the glass as I watch the nighttime sky. It seems peaceful outside, unlike what is currently going on in the compound. I'll be glad when initiation is over. It hasn't been good.

The door opens and I see Eric sitting beside me.

"Why are you out here?" he asks. It's not condescending or accusatory like you would normally expect from him. It's curious.

"I just wanted peace from the commotion inside," I say. "Thing is, many of these initiates won't know what will happen after the ceremony."

I think about the simulation serum. People will think they are still asleep when they act awake. The transmitters are usually short-range. What makes the transmitters unique, is that they can be used for long range.

"They'll think that the transmitters are for tracking," says Eric, before turning to me. "As they say, ignorance is bliss."

"What serum are you going to give me so it wouldn't arose suspicion that I didn't get one?" I ask.

"You're going to get what everyone thinks they're getting," says Eric. "It also applies not just to you, but to me and the other leaders of Dauntless."

Of course, Aunt Jeanine is going to want to keep track of the integral members of the Dauntless/Erudite alliance. I'll be the only Dauntless member not affected by the simulation serum. Despite my age, I might be made a Dauntless leader unceremoniously, as Aunt Jeanine would pull the strings like she did for Eric. She did tell Eric and Max on the night before the Choosing Ceremony that I will join Dauntless.

"You understand what I'm saying?" Eric asked me.

"Yes," I say nodding.

"Everything's going to be okay," Eric tells me, framing my face with his hands and touching my lips lightly with his. Our foreheads nearly touch as I look up to him.

"Now, let's get you inside before everyone goes to sleep," says Eric, lifting me up bridal style.

What I learned is that Eric is a complex person. He's vicious, arrogant, and calculating yes, but to me, I wonder if he has an aspect of him that he reserves for me.


	18. Chapter Eighteen

Since war on Abnegation is almost here, only the leaders will delegate and I won't be able to delegate with them until after initiation. My control room visits are over, as according to Eric, the initiates will think that a few days ago was my last day of special training in the control room.

Currently, I stand with Will, Christina, and Tris at the railing over the chasm. It is late at night after most of the Dauntless have gone to sleep. The three of them appeared to have new tattoos by the looks of it. I was also at the tattoo parlor, where I received a piercing on my left eyebrow, had a glittering stone inserted on my nose, and a tattoo drawn on my left forearm. I never knew it resembled one of Eric's tattoos until it was drawn.

Christina hands her a stack of papers, which are copies of every report released by my old faction in the last six months. Half of them used to belong to Eric, not that I'll tell them that. He is currently in the process of removing the minimal clutter in his apartment and he doesn't see the point of keeping paper.

Tris stares at the first one. On it is a picture of Aunt Jeanine. Her sharp eyes stare back at us.

"Have you two ever met her?" Tris asks Will and I. Christina crumples the first report into a ball and hurls it into the water.

"Jeanine? A few times," Will replies. "Her brother, William Matthews, is one of the three leaders and he's Isobel's father."

Tris looks at me as if everything now clicked together. Will takes the second report and rips it to shreds.

"Before I left," I begin, "my aunt and the father of my twin brother's ex-girlfriend were working together. They were trying to develop a longer-lasting serum for the simulations. Even before she became a leader."

Truth is, only it's being manufactured and will arrive at Dauntless the day before of the final test. I took the third report and crumble it before hurling it into the water.

"Jeanine's so smart, you can see it even before she says anything," says Will. "Like…a walking, talking computer."

My parents say that I inherited my intelligence from my aunt. They said it was obvious due to my way of understanding what the other Erudite might be thinking.

"No wonder you're so smart," Christina says to me, looking slightly impressed.

"What…" Tris flings one of the pages over the railing, pressing her lips together. "What do you two think about what she has to say?"

"I don't believe half the reports. I never had," I say, ripping the fourth report in two before throwing the pieces over the chasm. Tris looks at me skeptically, probably thinking that as the niece of Jeanine Matthews, I should believe what she says about Abnegation, though I believe the report about Marcus Eaton. Tris turns to Will.

He shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe it's a good idea to have more than one faction in control of the government. And maybe it would be nice to have more cars and…fresh fruit and…"

"You do realize there's no secret warehouse where all that stuff is kept, right?" she asks, her face turning red.

"Yes, I do," says Will. "I just think that comfort and prosperity are not a priority for Abnegation, and maybe they would be if other factions were involved in our decision making."

"Because giving an Erudite boy a car is more important than giving food to the factionless," she snaps.

"Hey now," says Christina, brushing Will's shoulder with her fingers. "This is supposed to be a lighthearted session of symbolic document destruction, not a political debate."

Tris keeps her silence and stares at the stack of papers.

"All that stuff she said about your dad, though," he says, "makes me kind of hate her. I can't imagine what good can come of saying such terrible things."

I can. Will hasn't been around her much to be a victim of her persuasion. My reading about persuasion is one of the big reasons I don't believe everything she says. If I chosen Erudite, I would have been in the group that was skeptical. Aunt Jeanine has lot of support for her claims.

We throw the remaining sheets in the chasm and I watch as they drift into the river below.

"It's bedtime," says Christina, smiling. "Ready to go back? I think I want to put Peter's hand in a bowl of warm water to make him pee tonight."

I turn after Tris to see a figure approaching us from the Pit. Judging by the way he walks, I know its Tobias.

"That sounds great, but I have to talk to Four about something," Tris says, pointing at toward the shadow ascending the path. Christina follows Tris's hand.

"Are you sure you should be running around here alone at night?" she asks.

"I won't be alone. I'll be with Four," says Tris, biting her lip.

"All right," Christina says distantly. "Well, I'll see you later, then."

The three of us walk toward the dormitories, Christina tousling Will's hair and Will jabbing her in the ribs, as we leave Tris with Tobias. Seeing Christina and Will, I know they will get together. Usually people who argue later get together.

"I think Tris has a thing for Four," says Christina.

"And is that a bad thing?" I say.

"I could see why she likes him," says Christina. "He's good looking but he's intimidating."

"Can you please stop talking girl talk?" asks Will annoyed.

I playfully hit him in back of the head.

"That's what you get for being near two girls," I tell him, laughing.

* * *

The next morning, I see that Tris is in a very cheerful mood. Smiling and everything. Did she kiss Tobias?

"What is with you today?" I hear Christina ask Tris on the way to breakfast.

"Oh, you know," she says. "Sun shining. Birds chirping."

Seconds later, Will says, "Let the girl be in a good mood. You may never see it again."

It's not long before she runs ahead of us and we sit in the same table with Will, Christina, and Tris's friend Uriah. I put the blueberry muffin on my plate, break it in half and spread butter on the halves as I scan the dining hall for Eric. He's reading a book, picking at his bran muffin in the process, though he glances at me for just a second before returning to his book.

Tobias walks in, apparently having a haircut.

"Something wrong?" Uriah asks Tris as I take a bite from one of the halves of my blueberry muffin.

She shakes her head and takes a bite from her toast. I notice that she's staring at Tobias.

"Today's fear landscape day," says Will. "You think we'll get to see our own fear landscapes?"

"No," Uriah shakes his head. "You go through one of the instructors' landscapes. My brother told me."

"Ooh, which instructor?" asks Christina. Suddenly perking up. We have three instructors: Lauren (who instructed the Dauntless-born), Tobias, and Eric. I doubt it will be Eric. He wouldn't want people to know his fears, narrowing it down to Lauren and Tobias.

"You know, it really isn't fair that you get all insider information and we don't," Will says, glaring at Uriah.

"Like you wouldn't use an advantage if you had one," retorts Uriah.

"Will, if you chose Erudite, the transfer initiates will be asking you the same thing," I remind him.

Christina ignores us. "I hope it's Four's landscape."

"Why?" Tris asks incredulously.

"Looks like _someone _had a mood swing." Christina rolls her eyes. "Like you don't want to know what his fears are. He acts so tough that he's probably afraid of marshmallows and really bright sunrises or something. Overcompensating."

"It won't be him," says Tris, shaking her head.

"How would you know?" asks Christina.

"It's just a prediction," says Tris.

Something tells me that she probably saw his fear landscape. Is that why Tobias approached her last night? Eric told me once that Tobias was begging and crying during his first session during stage two during their initiation. If Tris is right, that narrows the list to Lauren.

* * *

Lauren, the instructor of the Dauntless-born initiates, stands with her hands on her hips outside the fear landscape room.

"Two years ago," she says, "I was afraid of spiders, suffocation, walls that inch slowly inward and trap you between them, getting thrown out of Dauntless, uncontrollable bleeding, getting run over by a train, my father's death, public humiliation, and kidnapping by men without faces."

Everyone stares blankly at her.

"Most of you will have anywhere from ten to fifteen fears in your fear landscapes. That is the average number," she says.

"What's the lowest number someone has gotten?" asks a Dauntless-born initiate.

"In recent years," says Lauren, "four."

After letting the message sink in, Lauren says, "You will not find out your number today. The simulation is set to my fear landscape program, so you will experience my fears instead of your own."

So Tris was right.

"For the purposes of this exercise, though, each one of you will only face _my _fears, to get a sense of how this simulation works."

Lauren points to us at random and assigns us each a fear. She assigns me suffocation, and I go second after Will, who was assigned spiders.

After seeing Will brush off invisible spiders, it's my turn. Lauren inserts the needle in my neck and seconds later, the scenery changes. I'm in a metal volt that lacks oxygen. Struggling with breath, I try to calm down. The simulation ends when my air supply is almost cut short and I leave the fear landscape room to go outside, just so I could recollect my breath.

I see two Dauntless leaders carry a large package from a truck to the glass building. The box has the Erudite symbol on it, confirming that the simulation serums for the Dauntless and the tracking devices for the leaders and me are here.

I am about to go inside when I see Tris bursting out of the building, looking troubled. My curious nature perks up and I follow her several paces to the train tracks. It's then when she notices me.

"Are you going somewhere?" I ask.

"To Erudite," she answers.

Erudite. Why Erudite? Then it occurs to me. Her brother is in Erudite. Guilt sweeps me when I think of the note that Caleb written to his sister which Eric threw away.

"If you want to go there, you take me too," I say.

"And why would I need to?" Tris demands.

"If you want to find your way around the Erudite compound you need someone who was born there," I point out.

She considers for a moment before she says, "Okay."

Due to her tone and expression, it's obvious that she doesn't want to associate with the niece of Jeanine Matthews and an associate (or should I say _girlfriend_) of Eric. I noticed that today, ever since Will spilled that I was the niece of Jeanine Mathews, she's grown aloof. I wasn't best friends with her like Christina is to her but it's like she grown cold.

When the train approaches, I run, with her behind me and I grab on to the handle before hoisting myself in and I help Tris in afterwards.

Once in the car, I stand against the wall while Tris lies on her back, next to the door watching the passing scenery.

Eric is going to blow when he notices two initiates gone. He'll probably go after Tobias for not keeping better track of the initiates.

The train slows and Tris stands up and looks out the door before jumping, with me following after.

We turn left and the Erudite buildings loom above us. They are not familiar to her but this compound was home to me before I transferred to Dauntless on Aunt Jeanine's request.

"I know the Erudite keep records," says Tris, walking behind me. "Where might I expect to find Caleb?"

"Erudite headquarters," I tell her, leading her into the compound, leading her towards the central building.

The faction members are milling around everywhere, wearing the usual, blue, sharp, clean-cut clothes. The color blue seems bright to me after a few weeks of black clothes and dim lighting. It didn't seem a long time ago that I myself walked the Erudite compound wearing the blue Erudite clothing, and I'm so familiar with the place that even after nearly three weeks in the Dauntless compound, I know where each building is by heart.

People make way as we walk down the pavement that leads to the central building. Being Dauntless initiates, we stand out in a sea of blue.

Upon arriving at the central building, I open the glass doors for Tris and I let her in first. I stand beside her as I'm greeted by the smell of dust-covered pages. This is the place where me and my friends would read and do homework. The very place where Eric and his old friend would compete with crossword puzzles.

Tris looks around her surroundings, pauses when she sees Aunt Jeanine's portrait before making her way to the desk.

"How may I help you?" she's asked by the young man at the desk.

"I'm looking for someone," she says. "His name is Caleb. Do you where I can find him?"

"I'm not permitted to give out personal information."

"He's my brother."

"I'm not permi –"

I hear a palm slam on the desk, causing heads to turn in her direction and I see Caleb, wearing one of those suits and holding a book in his hand, approach Tris.

"I said." she says tersely. "I am looking for someone. He's an initiate. Can you at least tell me where I can find them?"

At that, Caleb asks, "Beatrice?"

She turns to face him and after a few seconds launches into a hug. That's risky, considering the saying 'faction before blood.'

"You look different," he says, his voice muffled.

"And you look…different as well," she says, before pulling back.

"Um…" he glances around the tables in the room. "Come on, let's get out of here."

He puts his hand on her back and they both exit the building, both of them not looking at me.

Since I'm here, Aunt Jeanine is going to wonder why I didn't inform her of Tris's appearance here. I don't want do but considering my role in the plot and Aunt Jeanine's obsession with learning about Tris Prior, I have no choice. Like a book, a scene of unwitting portrayal will play out.

I head over to the desk and ask the man, "Is Jeanine Matthews currently busy?"

"Yes, why would you ask?" he says.

"I'm her niece," I say.

"Hold on," he goes before picking up the phone and typing the extension.

"_Yes, what is it?" _I hear her demand on the other line.

"There's a girl from Dauntless claiming to be your niece," says the young man. "I don't know if I should –"

"_Allow her to come to my office," _I hear her snap, like she can't believe someone would question the validity of a niece that transferred to Dauntless.

I don't wait and go down the corridors that lead to her office. I don't knock as I enter either.

"You know you should knock when in Erudite," she scolds, as she removes her reading glasses and looks up at me. "Aside from that, why are you not at Dauntless."

"I apologize," I say. "Beatrice is here. She recently went outside with her brother."

Her eyes perk up with interest. "They are probably at Millennium Park. That's where Caleb Prior goes to read during his free time. He's a very enthusiastic student. I have very high hopes for him."

If he's an enthusiastic initiate, that means he's one of those that suck-up to Aunt Jeanine.

She turns picks up her phone, dials an extension, and after a few seconds, she asks, "William, can you send Richard and Edmond to go outside...Tell them that if they see a Dauntless initiate, to bring her to my office…Beatrice Prior…Thank you very much."

She hangs up the phone and says, "I could send someone to give you a ride back to Dauntless."

"I rather stay until you are done talking with her," I say. "I'm sure Eric wouldn't like it if I come back without her."

He probably knows both of us are missing from the compound by now. Knowing him, he'll be worried when it comes to me and furious when it comes to Tris.

"Very well then," she says. "Wait around this vicinity."

I go downstairs to the library and it's not long before two Erudite men escort Tris into the building and then leading her to the corridors leading to the office. I decide to take a walk around the block just to kill time until she is done talking with Tris.

* * *

After what seems like twenty minutes, dad drives me and Tris back to the Dauntless compound in his car. He spends the time explaining to Tris how the car runs on solar. She doesn't pay attention.

As the car drives, I could feel Tris glare at me. She has figured out that I told Aunt Jeanine about her appearance in Erudite. What choice did I have anyway?

When dad pulls up to the glass building above the Dauntless compound, Eric is waiting for us by the door. He puts one hand on my shoulder and he takes Tris's upper arm with his other hand and leads us into the building without thanking my dad.

"Go inside," he tells me. I concede and take the railing down the Pit. Right now, he's giving Tris a talk to. It won't be long before he gives me one as well.

Just as I expected, he approaches me and without talking, escorts me to the end of a hallway. The same one where I overheard Tris and her mother talk during Visiting Day.

He puts both his hands on my shoulders and says, "Have you had any idea how _worried _I was when I found out that you disappeared from the compound? I didn't know where you were until I received a call from your aunt."

"I had to see what Tris was up to," I say.

"You are tricky sometimes, you know," he says. "Come with me. I wanted to show you something."

Eric leads me down several corridors and opens a wooden door.

It looks like a meeting room. On the table are small black cases and mounds of syringes of the orange and brown serum. There are six serums that's a periwinkle color. Those, I think, are tracking devices for me and the five Dauntless leaders.

"Your aunt has been kind with timing," says Eric, as I see two people assemble the cases. "Tomorrow, starting by morning, we'll inject the simulation serum in every Dauntless, with the initiates for last."

I see a blue haired woman place a syringe containing the tracking device, a needle, adhesive bandage, and an antiseptic wipe in one of the black cases before snapping it shut and plastering a label sticker on it.

It's labeled _Isobel_.

He picks up the case with my name on it and says, "After you're done with your fear landscape, you will be injected with this. This is what the other Dauntless will think they are getting."

With the way things are going between Abnegation and Erudite, the tension is at breaking point level, and in the early morning hours, once after everyone has been injected, Erudite will declare war on Abnegation.

Those who will get cut tomorrow will not know that they will be the lucky ones.

Eric puts down the case and leads me out of the room.

"You should start packing," says Eric. "The rules are the top ten initiates wait the day after the initiation ceremony to pick their residences after choosing their job assignment. However, since you were here to help with the Dauntless and Erudite alliance, you are allowed to leave the dormitory."

It doesn't take me long to translate what he says.

"Are you asking me to move in with you?" I ask.

"That's exactly what I'm asking," he says.

* * *

If there is one improvement, it's that I don't have to sleep in the same room as freaking Peter. Ever since my second beat down, he hasn't made any more effort at trying to flirt with me and talk to me. Hopefully he got the message that I'm not interested in him.

In my opinion, a couple living together after knowing each other after only three weeks is too soon. But everyone is different. There are people that get engaged just after knowing each other for a day and they end up having long marriages.

Eric emptied some drawers for me and in the process of unpacking, I noticed that I still kept the blue, white collared sweater and my black dress slacks that I wore when I first arrived here. It is required of the initiates to keep their old faction clothes in case they get cut. If they pass initiation, we are required to donate them to the factionless.

I put the sweater underneath my other black clothes. I'm sure Eric wouldn't mind if I wore one of his old shirts that he acquired here. I take a shower and after drying up I slip on my white cotton underpants and slip on the long white shirt.

It even smells like him.

Feeling slightly worn out, I slip into the right side of his bed and get under the covers. The other initiates will wonder where I'm at. I didn't tear apart my bed, so they will know that I wasn't cut.

It's not long before I feel the bed dip and I roll over to meet his eyes.

"I think it looks better on you," he says.

"I'm glad you don't mind," I say smiling.

Eric leans towards me, so that half of his weight was on top of me.

"Ready for tomorrow?" he asks. "The other initiates wouldn't know that you would not be given the serum."

"Will you be injecting them yourself?" I ask.

"That's what Jeanine wants me to do," he says. "You are also permitted to tag along with me."

It's unsettling. The idea of watching others get injected with the simulation serum. The only reason I did not back out is because if I do, Aunt Jeanine will go back on her promise and inject me with a serum. She's so smart that I know she'll design a special serum for the Divergents.

"Eric, are you sure you want to see my fear landscape tomorrow?" I ask.

"Has that been bothering you? What do you fear that you don't want me to see?"

"During day three of stage two, the simulation portrayed you and me outside the fence that surrounds the city," I say. "In the simulation, we were both carrying guns and you – not the real you – the simulation you said I either had to kill you or vice versa. The outcome wasn't pleasant."

"You do realize I would never threaten your life, right?" he asks.

"You didn't kill me, I killed you," I say.

"So, you fear of being in a difficult situation and being the one to make the first move?" asks Eric.

"Something like that, but what was more frightening is that it involved you," I say.

"Isobel, you can resolve it, you're not an idiot," he says. "You have a large brain. You are going in there tomorrow and pass your final evaluation. I love you."

That was the first time he said it to me. We never exchanged those three words when we made love, but we were driven by passion rather than love.

"I love you too," I say softly. Just after that his lips touched mine and he put his whole weight on me. Our tongues meet each other and I try holding back a throaty groan. He removes the t-shirt from my torso and we continue our rough bout of passionate kissing.

The blood rushes to the surface of my skin as my heart beat hammers. I remove his boxers and t-shirt before he removes my underpants.

We both gaze at each other for a few seconds before our lips touch again for a rough kiss. I lift my hips up and when he enters me I wrap my legs around his legs.

My fingers graze into his neck as he thrusts into me, and I loose myself in a chasm of lust and passion.


	19. Chapter Nineteen

The next morning, both of us are still lying on the bed, my head against his bare chest while his fingers run through my hair. I rouse feeling his lips touch the bridge of my nose and I open my eyes and see him looking down at me.

"If you keep stealing the blankets, we're going to have a problem," says Eric, smirking.

"Hey, you do it too," I tell him, playfully shoving his shoulder.

"Looks like we're going to have to work on that," he says.

I smile and chuckle as I remove myself from the bed. I pick up the discarded t-shirt and carry it with me as I head to the dresser. I open my underwear drawer and shrug on my sports bra when he rams me against the dresser, and kisses me on the lips.

"We better not waste too much energy," I say. "We both have work to do."

"Good point," he says, before kissing me once more. I change into clean underwear before dressing in my black pants and my black shirt.

Tonight will be very tiresome since I heard the fear landscapes take a lot out of everybody.

* * *

I have attended Erudite's initiation ceremony every year except this one. It's an intellectual and cerebral experience. The initiates, who spend thirty days of taking classes on their intellect and learning certain pathways before they can become full members, view an presentation, test their knowledge on subliminal images, and share their knowledge over dinner before Aunt Jeanine releases the list on who passed their final stage of initiation.

The Dauntless don't do that.

Initiation day plunges the Dauntless compound into insanity and chaos. There are people everywhere, and most of them are inebriated by noon. I don't know how Eric did it, injecting the simulation serum into almost every Dauntless during initiation day. I have been tagging along after him, handing him the black case so he could inject the Dauntless.

The last Dauntless member before the initiates was Tobias, who was putting injured Dauntless in the infirmary. Tobias looked wary as Eric injected the serum.

The transfers don't arrive until a few of the Dauntless-born are finished, but I'm the first to get there and watch as the five leaders set up for the fear landscape simulations. In the corner are a few of the black cases. I stand and lean against the wall that's between the simulation room and the fear landscape room. I don't know if I want Eric to see the fear of either he shoots me or I shoot him.

There are three screens on a wall: the left screen shows the initiate reacting to what he or she is seeing, the middle one the heart rate, and the right the time.

After the Dauntless-borns were done, Tobias says, "Transfers, the order in which you go through the final test was taken from your rankings as they now stand. So Drew will go first and Tris will go last."

I enter the room where the leaders are at and watch as Eric sticks Drew with a needle and sends him into the fear landscape room.

The fear landscapes are not interesting to watch from the outside. I could see Drew moving and reacting to something, but we all can't see it. Thank goodness that no one would see my fears, except for the leaders. Molly goes next. It takes her half as long as it takes Drew, and this shows that she wasn't emotionally and mentally prepared. She spends too much time breathing heavily, trying to control her panic. At one point she even screams at the top of her lungs.

Christina is next. Then Will. With those who will become factionless, they will not activate the transmitters, as it will be pointless, but Drew didn't have a bandage on his neck, suggesting that he will get cut.

"Isobel."

I remove myself from the wall and walk to the front of the observation room where Eric stands with a syringe with an orange liquid. We look into each other's eyes before he plunges the needle into my neck.

"Ready?" he asks.

I nod and I step into the fear landscape room. It takes a minute until the scene changes into the library at Erudite headquarters. It's not long for the room disappears and is replaced by steel cylinder which starts closing in on me.

I just take deep breaths as the walls close in, putting my hands on the walls to try to stop the walls closing in. Every time I take a deep breath, my heart begins beating in a normal pace.

The scene changes and I'm climbing a tree. I know what this one is. I keep on climbing and when I reach the top, I hear someone sawing the tree from the bottom and I look down to see Peter sawing it down.

_Don't panic. Don't panic_, I say to myself, keeping my breathing even. I eye the tree next to me. If I'm lucky, I'll jump on there. I slowly maneuver through the tree and just as it comes down, I jump to the next tree, dangling from the limb of the next tree. I slowly climb that one, regaining my breath.

The tree is replaced and I'm now standing by the fence that surrounds the city and an gun is in my hand.

No, no. Not this one.

I hear the sound of the bullet being moved into the chamber and I turn to see Eric pointing a gun at me.

"Shoot," he says. "Or I'll do it."

I don't want to kill him in simulation. And I don't want him to kill me in simulation either. I place the barrel to my own forehead. I would rather die than having to shoot him or having him shoot me.

I pull the trigger and hear a bang.

The scene is replaced with the chasm. I am hanging upside down, my legs tied to the railing, threatening to snap. This must be new. Probably because Peter and his friends dangled Tris off the chasm. I place my hands on the wall and scoot upward. It's not a smooth process either, because the water sprays at me, knocking me down almost. By the time I reach the railing I'm panting heavily and soaking wet.

The scene changes. I'm somewhere with a spotlight on me and I see blood running from my nose, ears, and fingertips.

Please, let the bleeding stop. Let the bleeding stop. I force my hands on my nose and try to apply pressure to the heavy bleeding.

Then. It stops.

I place my hands on my ears and apply pressure there before turning the attention to my fingertips.

The scene changes and I'm standing in complete darkness. I keep walking in pitch blackness, trying to keep my breathing in.

_Please let there be some light_, I think. For some reason, I move my hand and somewhere, I feel a string.

I grab the string and pull it, flooding the darkness with light.

The light fades and I find myself in a burning forest. I run through it, dodging fireballs as I run. When I approach a wall of fire, I sense a fireball. I try climbing and tree and keep hopping from one tree to the next when they catch flame until I leave the burning forest.

The blazing forest is replaced by a wintery landscape. I pull myself for warmth as the temperature drops.

No. I must find something to warm me up. I dig my hands through the snow and stumble upon what feels like firewood. I feel something in my pockets and notice that it is a lighter. I feel a smile grace my lips as I light the firewood. I put my hands by the fire, warming myself up in the process.

The snow is replaced with water and I find myself struggling to keep my head above the water.

_"One way to face a fear of drowning is to swim deeper."_

With this piece of information in mind, I hold my breath and dive into the water, swimming deeper in the process, holding my breath.

The water disappears and I find myself in the factionless sector of town. I find a pistol in my hand and no one else is with me except for a young boy that's probably from Candor, due to his black and white clothing. Somehow, I know that I have to kill him. I was somehow ordered to do it.

I don't. I would rather die than kill an innocent kid. I place the barrel at my temple, pull the trigger, and hear a bang.

* * *

The lights come on and I stand alone in the fear landscape room. I take deep breaths, relieved that I made it through the test. I don't want to go through my fear landscape. It would be masochistic if I did.

The door opens. Max, Eric, Tobias, and the other three Dauntless leaders walk into the room in a line, standing in a small crowd before me.

"Congratulations, Isobel," says Eric smiling. "You have successfully completed your final evaluation."

"Thank you, Eric," I say.

He signals Tobias to leave the room and says, "There's one more thing."

Eric beckons the blue haired woman forward and she hands him the black case with my name on it. He opens it and takes out a needle and a syringe full of the periwinkle liquid.

"Hold out your arm," he instructs. It will make sense for the tracker to go in the arm. He wipes the area of my arm with an antiseptic wipe and eases the needle in my skin. When he's done he puts the needle back in its case and places an adhesive bandage on my arm.

"Good job," he says, patting my back as I leave the fear landscape room. I stay in the observation room and watch as the last two initiates do their final test. Then, it is Tris's turn. At one point of her simulation, her face turns beet red. For some reason, after Tris goes through her fear landscape, the leaders laugh about something and laugh harder when looking at Tobias.

Eric hands me one of the small cases and I enter the fear landscape room with the other six.

Tris stands when we enter, obviously trying to recover from whatever she faced.

"Congratulations, Tris," Eric says to her. "You have successfully completed your final evaluation."

"Thank you," she says.

"There is one more thing before you go and get ready for the welcoming banquet," he says. Eric beckons me forward and I hand him the small black case. He opens it and takes out a syringe and a needle. I see Tris tense up when she sees the orange-brown liquid.

"At least you're not afraid of needles," Eric says. "This will inject you with a tracking device that will be activated only if you are reported missing. Just a precaution."

"How often do people go missing?" she asks, frowning. She doesn't buy it.

"Not often." Eric smirks. "This is new development, courtesy of the Erudite. We have been injecting every Dauntless throughout the day, and I assume all other factions will comply as soon as possible."

She looks at him squarely in the eye before lifting her hair and tilting her neck. She doesn't look at him when he wipes an antiseptic wipe on her neck before injecting the serum into her neck. He later places an adhesive bandage on the injection site after putting the needle back in the case.

"The banquet is in two hours," he says. "Your ranking among the initiates, Dauntless-born included, will be announced then. Good luck."

The six of us leave the room leaving Tobias with Tris. "Well, that's about everyone," says Eric. "All we need to do is find the Divergent."

Again, the people cut will be the lucky ones.

"I'll see you at the banquet," he says, patting my shoulder.

I go to the clothing place and purchase a red tank top, a black jacket with red lines on the seams, leather pants, black tights, and a knee length leather skirt. I return to the apartment and put away my clothes before changing for the banquet. The new jacket I purchased is what I'm wearing along with a black shirt and black pants.

I want to see Eric, but he and the other Dauntless leaders are determining the ranks, so I just hang around the apartment until the banquet and I sit in the same table as Will, Christina, and Tris. Fortunately, Christina doesn't ask me about why whereabouts last night, which is surprising, knowing her. Tris and Christina talk about their fear landscapes and such. Apparently one of Tris's fears was intimacy. Completely believable since she originated from Abnegation. No wonder the Dauntless leaders were laughing.

"Oh, you know. Faceless…unidentifiable male," says Tris. "How were your moths?"

"You promised you would never tell!" cries Christina, smacking Tris's arm.

"Moths?" I repeat laughing.

"You're afraid of moths?" asks Will.

"Not just a cloud of moths," says Christina, "like…a _swarm _of them. Everywhere. All those wings and legs…" she shudders and shakes her head.

"Terrifying," Will says with mock seriousness. "That's my girl. Tough as cotton balls."

"Oh, shut up."

A microphone squeals somewhere, so loud that I see Tris covering her ears. I look across the room at Eric, who stands on one of the tables with the microphone in hand, tapping it with his fingertips. After the tapping is done and the crowd of Dauntless is silent, Eric clears his throat and begins.

"We aren't big on speeches here. Eloquence is for Erudite," he says. The crowd laughs and I join in. "So, I'm going to keep this short. It's a new year, and we have a new pack of initiates. And a slightly smaller pack of new members. We offer them our congratulations."

The room erupts with pounding of fists on table tops.

"We believe in bravery. We believe in taking action. We believe in freedom from fear and in acquiring the skills to force the bad out of our world so that the good can prosper and thrive. If you also believe in those things, we welcome you."

More fist pounding with whoops follow as I clap my hands and smile.

"Tomorrow, in their first act as members, our top ten initiates will choose their professions, in the order of how they are ranked," says Eric. "The rankings, I know, are what everybody is really waiting for. They are determined by a combination of three scores – the first, from combat training; the second, from the simulation stage; and the third, from the final examination, the fear landscape. The rankings will appear above me."

As soon as the word "me" leaves his mouth, the names appear on a screen that is a large as the wall:

_First: Tris_

_ Second: Uriah_

_ Third: Lynn _

_ Fourth: Marlene _

_ Fifth: Isobel _

_ Sixth: Will _

_ Seventh: Christina _

_ Eighth: Peter _

_ Nine: Chelsea _

_ Ten: Jason _

_ Eleven: Molly _

_ Twelve: Drew _

Afterwards, I find myself running towards Eric and I launch in his arms.

"Excellent work, Isobel," he says.

I just laugh lightly before our lips touch in a kiss. Now Christina and Tris will know that Eric and I are in fact an item. After we kiss, he sits down and pulls me on his lap. I see Will and Christina kiss sloppily. Tris stands on her tiptoes and kisses Tobias but she backs away, like something just entered her mind.

"Now, tomorrow everything will change," Eric whispers to me.

To a regular initiate now member, it's a positive news, but for someone who knows what will really happen tomorrow, it's bad news.

Tomorrow, Erudite will declare war on Abnegation.

* * *

**Her tenth fear would have some significance regarding **_**Insurgent**_**. I have a special twist planned for Eric regarding his fate and his loyalties in the end. If he did decide to defect from the Erudite cause, due to his personality, something would have to happen to cause him to switch sides. It will be OOC of Eric to automatically switch sides.**


	20. Chapter Twenty

At nine thirty, every Dauntless leaves the welcoming banquet and head to either their apartments or dormitories. However, the leaders, me included, head straight to the meeting room.

"Time estimate?" asks Veronica, a thirty year old Dauntless leader with black hair as we all sit down, I take a seat between Eric and Max.

"Jeanine Matthews is going to have the simulation start at six tomorrow morning," says Max. "So we must all be up at four, preparing the assault weapons."

The meeting goes on for an hour, basically about hunting Divergents, and apparently, my role is to pretend to be under simulation, so I could look for Divergents among the initiates. I have seen Rosalie Granger under simulation testing, so I know how what I should do to act blank and robotic.

Before I leave for the dormitories, Eric hands me some clothes, among them, my red tank top, so I could stand out.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning," he says, kissing my lips lightly before I head to the transfer dormitory, where I change into my pajamas in silence before going to sleep.

At six in the morning, I get up from the bed, at the same time as everybody else. I make my movements robotic and school my features into a blank look, my eyes open and muscles slack.

"Isobel," I hear Tris whisper before I see her approaching me. She shakes me, but I don't budge. I robotically slip on the tank top, keeping my face blank. Once dressed, I get behind Peter and march along with them.

They are moving in unison, same forward and same arm swings back. I mimic them. The rhythm feels strange, but I'm moving robotic like everybody else.

We march toward the Pit and before we reach the entrance, the front of the line turns left. Max stands in the hallway, watching. I keep my face vacant, moving robotically. I act so convincing that those who are Divergent are going to think I'm under simulation too. I'm told I have to pretend until we reach Abnegation.

We climb a flight of stairs and travel at the same rhythm down four corridors. Then the hallway opens up into a huge cavern, containing a crowd of Dauntless.

I see the rows of tables with assault weapons and holsters. I pick up an assault rifle and a holster and a belt, copying Peter, who is directly in front of me. Once I'm armed, I follow the other initiates towards the exit.

Hopefully Tris is smart enough to play along.

The line of initiates passes into a dark hallway, and all I do is match my footfalls with the others to prevent myself from stumbling. As the staircase turns, light flows into the cavern and when we reach the top of the stairs, we pass Veronica.

Once we're outside and by the train tracks, the Dauntless robotically get into the car ahead of us. I robotically hop into the train and I stand behind Tris and Tobias, both of them still. I keep my facial features vacant, though I thought I see Tobias weave his fingers to Tris's, indicating that he is awake.

Eric must be right about Tobias being Divergent. If he asks me why I didn't do my job, I'll say that Tobias and Tris acted so convincing that they fooled me.

The train screeches to a stop and I robotically hop out of the train.

"Run," I hear Tobias whisper to Tris as we marched towards Abnegation.

"My family," she says to him.

Abnegation looks simpler then Erudite. Each house looks alike and in the center are a few small buildings.

About a half mile in, I hear gunshots. I put down my weapon and stalk into an alley between two houses where I find Uriah. He's Divergent because he's not under the influence of the serum.

I watch as he runs from the sector. I walk along the back of the houses though the alley, doing nothing as I hear gunshots. From a distance, I see Dauntless soldiers herd some adult members of Abnegation along with Abnegation children in a nearby building.

They say it's wrong to stand by and do nothing. I know if I rebel, Aunt Jeanine won't just go after me. She'll hurt my family too, even her own brother. I still stalk around the sector before I go out to one of the streets where Eric is with Veronica.

"This is insane," Eric says, stepping around a still, blank-faced Tris. He pokes her cheek with his index finger.

"They can't really see us? Or hear us?" I ask.

"Call it a blank-minded sleep," says Eric. "They receive commands from our computers that are controlled by the Erudite computer system. The transmitters we injected them process these commands," and at this Eric touches the injection site on Tris's neck, "and they carry them out seamlessly."

Eric shifts a step to the side and approaches Tobias, leaning close to his face.

"Now this is a happy sight," he says. "The legendary Four." Eric pauses before saying, "What should I do with him?"

"Shoot him if you want," says Veronica in a bored voice. "He's nothing now."

Eric takes the gun from his holster and presses the barrel to Tobias's right temple.

"Too bad you didn't just take Max up on his offer, Four. Well, too bad for _you_, anyway," says Eric quietly, as he clicks the bullet to its chamber.

Suddenly, Tris points the barrel of her rifle to Eric's forehead. I find myself pointing my rifle at her. Not to kill her, but to warn her.

"Get your gun away from his head," Tris snarls at him.

"Tris, put your gun down," I say slowly. "You don't want to do anything stupid."

"She won't shoot me anyway," says Eric.

"People always underestimate my character," Tris says before moving the gun to his foot and fires. I hear something loud escape my mouth. I just screamed my lungs out.

Eric screams and holds his blood soaked foot. Tobias aims his gun at Veronica, fires and shoots her in the leg.

As Tris and Tobias run, Veronica, though wounded, takes her gun and aims it at them. The gun fires, and Tris falls to the ground. As Tobias helps her up, they are surrounded by sleep-walking Dauntless.

"Divergent rebels," says Eric, balancing himself on one foot. His face is sickly white. "Surrender your weapons."

* * *

Eric is taken away to Abnegation headquarters to remove the bullet from his foot, and before I could think to go in there with him, Max sends me back to the Dauntless compound. I don't want to be there. I want to be with Eric.

My job is to handle work in Eric's office, taking calls from Aunt Jeanine and sending simulation logs to the Erudite computers. I'm handed a gun, a holster, and one of the black sleek phones with a number to call.

"One thing for sure, Beatrice might escape from execution and reunite with her family," says Aunt Jeanine, at nine thirty in the morning. "Since I was lucky to have a Abnegation-born in my hands, I had Caleb be my special agent."

In other words, Caleb will spy on his own sister.

"So, if Tris escapes, do you think she might try to stop the simulation?" I ask, biting the end of a pencil.

"If she does try, Tobias might kill her in the process," says Aunt Jeanine. "He's in simulation, keeping guard over the control room."

So that means Aunt Jeanine figured out the Divergent problem.

Until three thirty in the afternoon, after sending simulation logs after simulation logs, I decide to go into the apartment I now share with Eric when I see figures approach the main floor of the glass building: Tris, her brother Caleb, a man that looks like their father, Marcus Eaton, and an injured Peter.

I quickly dial the number on the cell phone that Max gave me and call Aunt Jeanine.

"I see Tris and Caleb with other people, what should I do?" I say.

"Whatever she plans, pretend to be assistance," says Aunt Jeanine. "I will appreciate it if you and Caleb were in the same area retrieving information for me."

"Sure thing," I say, hanging up the phone. Whatever Aunt Jeanine plans, I don't like this one bit. That means I will be separated from Eric. Who knows for how long?

I hide in the shadows as I see Tris and her dad go to the elevator after an altercation with a Dauntless soldier and when they are out of sight, I approach the remaining trio.

Caleb tenses up, taking in my black clothing and piercings. Peter jerks involuntarily.

"I'm just here to help," I say.

"How can we be sure of that?" Marcus demands.

"Let's just say this whole thing is _illogical_," I say. "Why don't you go outside?"

"Tris told us to stay here," says Caleb.

"And get shot by Dauntless under simulation?" I ask.

"She's got a point, you know," says Peter feebly. I could see that his arm is bleeding. Looks like he got shot in the arm.

Marcus and Caleb both look at me then Peter before they head outside the glass building, me behind them.

"Were you born in Erudite?" asks Marcus.

"How would you know?" I demand, raising my pierced eyebrow.

"You stink of it." he scoffs. "You look like a Dauntless hellion but you carry yourself like an Erudite."

"For your information, I would rather not listen to men who beat their child with a belt," I say.

Caleb's jaw drops and Marcus looks affronted.

"Looks like you are someone who spends too much time with Jeanine Matthews," says Marcus. "Allowing her to poison your thoughts. For your information, I would never have caused Tobias harm."

I just scowl at him and turn my glance to Caleb. He looks different without the Erudite clothing.

"Are you sure you left Erudite," I say.

"Yes, why would I remain with a faction that is murdering my old faction?" says Caleb.

I scowl at him before turning away. Minutes later I hear a commotion from the inside. Shouting. It looks like the simulation ended. I don't know why. Tobias and Tris join us. So Tobias is free from the simulation. I see Tris go over to Caleb and they hug.

"Dad?" he asks.

Tris shakes her head before she turns to glance at me. Her eyes hardening.

"What is she doing here?" Tris demands.

"She had us go outside so we wouldn't get targeted by Dauntless soldiers," says Caleb.

Tris says nothing and then she looks at Marcus, who is hugging Tobias. Tobias doesn't return the hug, and I don't blame him for it.

"Hey," Tris demands, making her way towards them and she pushes Marcus away from Tobias. "Hey. Get away from him. Stay away."

"Beatrice, what are you doing?" asks Caleb.

"Tris," says Tobias.

Marcus gives her a scandalized look that looks manufactured.

"Not all those Erudite articles were full of lies," says Tris, focusing her narrowed eyes at Marcus.

"What are you talking about?" Marcus says quietly. "I don't know what you've been told, Beatrice, but –"

"The only reason I haven't shot you yet is because he's the one who should get to do it," Tris says. "Stay away from him or I'll decide I'll no longer care."

Tobias's hands slip around Tris's arms and Marcus looks at her before turning away.

"We have to go," Tobias says unsteadily. "The train should be here any second."

We walk over unyielding ground toward the train tracks. Tobias, Caleb, and Tris speak quietly for a moment before Tris turns to glance at me.

"Why are we bringing _her _with us?" Tris demands. "She's going to betray us to Jeanine or Eric."

"She got Caleb out of Dauntless headquarters," says Tobias.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean she is trustworthy," says Tris. "For all we could know, she could betray our location and steal the hardr –"

Tobias's shushes Tris and he looks at Peter. He should be glancing at both me and Caleb, for we are the untrustworthy ones. Tris should have every right to worry about me but she should worry about Caleb too. Just because he is her brother, that does not mean he should be trusted. Aunt Jeanine told me that he was an excellent student. I wonder how much persuasion it took for her to make him work for her. She probably blackmailed him without Caleb even knowing he was being blackmailed.

My aunt has a dangerous gift for words.

We stand next to the tracks for a few minutes before the train comes. I jog a few steps next to the car, grab the handle, and hoist myself inside. I sit in a corner, away from everybody else. They say we are going to Amity headquarters. I must move onto Candor in a few days without risk of being discovered.

"My parents," says Tris to Tobias. "They died today. They died for me."

I think of Natalie Prior, who administered my aptitude test, never to breathe on this earth again. Her husband, who put himself in danger by entering the Dauntless compound with his daughter, son, and the leader of the Abnegation. If my own parents died, I don't know if I would be sad, since in Erudite, they prepare us in case we leave our birth faction.

My thoughts turn to Eric. Did they remove the bullet from his foot? Does he know Aunt Jeanine sent me off to work in the same area as Caleb? I don't like being separated from him for a long period of time. Call it too soon but I feel like Eric has become a part of me. I wonder if I'm a part of him too.

I look to see Tris looking at a hard drive. If they have that, it must contain the simulation data.

Tris notices that I'm staring at the hard drive and looks at Marcus before clutching the hard drive to her chest and sleeping against Tobias.

I decide to rest my head against the wall of the car and close my eyes.

* * *

Abnegation and Dauntless are both broken, their members scattered. For the Dauntless, one side will align with the Erudite while the others would not. If there were two Dauntless leaders in the former group, it would make perfect sense for some of the Dauntless to join the Erudite. You could say I was factionless if I still didn't work for my aunt, Max, and Eric. I'm still Dauntless. Dauntless with Erudite roots.

The people not counting Caleb are the ones that are displaced from their factions. In the next month or two, it's going to be a rollercoaster ride of eluding the enemy and betrayal for those running away from the Erudite.

Though my gut tells me that a shocking discovery will be one of them.

* * *

**I know. Call me cruel for separating the main pairing. They'll be reunited around Chapter 16 of **_**Insurgent**_**.**


	21. Chapter Twenty One

**We're now in **_**Insurgent**_**.**

* * *

An hour later, I feel a tap on my shoulder and see that it's Caleb.

"We got to go," he says. I stand up, adjusting the gun in my holster and join him, Peter, and Marcus by the door. As much as I hate Peter, I think he needs to get that arm checked, as to avoid infection.

"Tris, come on," I hear Tobias tell her. "We have to jump."

It is too dark to see where we are, but if we are getting off, we are probably close to the fence. Tobias helps Tris to her feet and guides her to the doorway.

I jump off first before I hear the others jump after me. Tris and Tobias being last. I shrug off my jacket and give it to Peter so he could wrap it around his injury.

"Okay?" I hear Tris ask someone.

I see Caleb nod in the darkness before I hear a sniffle. Is he crying because he knows he will betray his sister at some point? Hopefully that's the reason.

We landed in the grass near the fence, several yards away from the worn path that the Amity trucks travel to deliver food to the city, and the gate that lets them out – the gate that is currently shut, locking us in.

"There are supposed to be Dauntless guards here," says Marcus. "Where are they?"

"They were probably under the simulation," I answer. "Who knows where they are now?"

One thing we don't know is that what happened to the other factions after the simulations. Max probably informed Aunt Jeanine and Eric about the missing hard drive. With the missing hard drive Aunt Jeanine might have another plan to put people under simulation until someone retrieves the hard drive.

Tobias approaches a small metal box on the right side of the gate and opens it, revealing a keypad.

"Let's hope the Erudite didn't think to change this combination," he says as he types in a series of numbers. He stops at the eighth one, and the gate clicks open.

"How did you know that?" asks Caleb. His voice sounds thick with emotion.

"I worked in the Dauntless control room, monitoring the security system. We only change the codes twice a year," says Tobias.

"How lucky," says Caleb. He gives Tobias a wary look. Shouldn't it be the other way around?

"Luck has nothing to do with it," says Tobias. "I only worked there because I wanted to make sure I could get out."

Get out – like we are trapped here. Aunt Jeanine says that there is something beyond the Amity farms that the public shouldn't know about. What is it? Is it trapping us here? History says there was a War that divided us into our five factions – or should I say four. Now that Tobias mentioned about leaving the city, my mind is burning with curiosity.

I feel like my Erudite senses are kicking in.

We walk in a small pack, Peter keeping my black jacket around his bloody arm, Marcus with his hand on Peter's shoulder, keeping him stable. Tobias and Tris walking in front of us and beside me is Caleb, who wipes his cheeks every few seconds. He better regret taking the assignment that Aunt Jeanine gave him.

* * *

Pinpricks of light are the first sign that we are nearing Amity headquarters. Then squares of light that turn into glowing windows. A cluster of wooden and glass buildings.

Before we can reach them, we have to walk through an orchard. My feet sink into the ground, and above me, the branches grow into one another, forming a kind of tunnel. Dark fruit hangs among the leaves, ready to drop. The sharp, sweet smell of rotting apples mixes with the scent of wet earth under my nose.

When we get close, I see Marcus leave Peter's side and walks in front. "I know where to go," he says. So he must have been here before.

He leads us past the first building to the second one on the left. All the buildings except the greenhouses are made of the same dark wood, unpainted, rough. I hear laughter through an open window.

Marcus opens one of the doors. Since this is Amity, I'm not surprised by the lack of security. Eric has said in the past that Amity is moronic because they straddle between the line of trust and stupidity. I acknowledge it's foolish not to have security, but the Amity need to uphold their virtue, which is peace.

In this building the only sound is of our squeaking shoes. I don't hear Caleb cry anymore. Has he tried convincing himself that what Aunt Jeanine wants him to do is harmless when in reality it will drive an wedge between him and his sister?

Marcus stops before an open room, where Johanna Reyes, representative of Amity, sits, staring out the window. Those in Erudite, even the most intelligent, have no idea why she has that scar that runs from her right eyebrow to her lip, rendering her blind in one eye and giving her an lisp when she talks.

"Oh, thank God," she says when she sees Marcus. She walks toward him with her arms open and rests her hands on his shoulders. I wonder if she knows what a terrible man he is.

"The other members of your party got here a few hours ago, but they weren't sure if you made it," she says. Other members of their party. Most likely Abnegation members ousted from their faction. Tris probably went to a safe house before arriving at Dauntless. That would explain why she took Caleb, her father, and Marcus with her to Dauntless.

She looks over Marcus's shoulder, first at Tobias and Caleb, then at Tris, then at me, then at Peter.

"Oh my," she says, her eyes lingering on the blood soaking Peter's shirt. "I'll send for a doctor. I can grant you all permission to stay the night, but tomorrow, our community must decide together. And" – she eyes Tobias, Tris, and me – "they will likely not be enthusiastic about a Dauntless presence in our compound. I of course ask you to turn over any weapons you might have."

I hand in my gun and holster without hesitation. I'll get it back when I leave. As Tobias hands in his gun, I see Tris eyeing the tattoo on one of my forearms, like she recognizes it from somewhere. It does in fact resemble one of Eric's tattoos. In her opinion, it ties me to him. I believe it does but I don't see it negatively as she does.

She probably sees it as some type of alliance with him.

"My name is Johanna Reyes," says Johanna, extending her hand to Tris, then Tobias, and then to me.

"This is T –" Marcus starts, but Tobias interrupts him.

"My name is Four," he says. "This is Tris, Caleb, Isobel, and Peter."

"Welcome to Amity compound." Johanna's eyes fix on Tris's face, and she smiles crookedly. "Let us take care of you."

* * *

One of the Amity leads me into one of the bedrooms in the corridor. The walls are the same rough, unpainted wood and on the bed is a patchwork quilt. Using this as an opportunity, I take out the sleek, black cell phone, dial the number and press the phone against my ear.

After two rings, I hear Aunt Jeanine answer, "This is Jeanine Matthews speaking."

Probably planning a strategy, because I think I hear Eric's voice and another man speaking in the background.

"Aunt Jeanine, Caleb and I have just reached the Amity compound with Tris, Tobias, Peter, and Marcus," I say briskly.

"Of course they would choose Amity," I heard her mutter under her breath before she says, "I'll send a taskforce in a few days to retrieve them. Stay in Amity for a few days before going to Candor. Get a list of names of the Dauntless initiates there and send it to us and stay there until I send a taskforce there."

"Okay", I say before saying, "Um, Aunt Jeanine, do you mind if I speak with Eric, please."

I hear her footsteps on linoleum floor and I hear her say, "This is Isobel, Eric. She wants a word with you."

I hear him taking the phone and he says, "How are you, Isobel?"

"Dreadful," I say. "I would rather be in Erudite headquarters then in Amity."

"It's not going to be permanent," says Eric. "It won't be long before you'll join us back at Erudite. Remember to give in those names after you arrive in Candor."

"I won't forget," I say. "Eric, I miss you."

"I miss you too," he says. "We'll have a lot of catching up to do after Candor." I hear one of the male voices I heard earlier talk to him, requesting his attention on something. "Sorry, Isobel, I have to go," he says, sounding irritated before hanging up the phone.

I turn it off and snap it shut. I put the phone in the wooden nightstand and get under the covers. Being here feels different then in Dauntless.

I fall asleep to the wind blowing through the orchards outside.


	22. Chapter Twenty Two

Its dawn and I awake to the sound of birds chirping their morning tune and the smell of sawdust. I stretch my body and I notice I'm wearing the same red tank top and black pants that I wore yesterday.

There's a knock on my door.

"Come in," I encourage. A blond haired girl wearing a mixture of Amity red and yellow and Abnegation grey comes in, carrying a bundle of clothes. A bag is hanging over her shoulder.

"I offered to bring clothes to the guests here," she says, laying the bundle in front of me. "I know it's not what you're used to."

"It's fine," I say smiling. She smiles a little bit, but I can tell that she would rather not be around a Dauntless with a tattoo and piercings. "What's your name?" I ask out of gentle curiosity.

She hesitates before answering, "Susan. Susan Black."

I think I remember that name and I finally do. She was called for her aptitude test the same time as Tris and during the Choosing Ceremony she chose Abnegation, her birth faction.

"I'm Isobel," I say. I don't want to say my last name, because there is only one family that has the surname of Matthews these days and they are in Erudite. Just with my last name, they'll know I am associated by blood with Jeanine Matthews.

"Um, I need to continue delivering clothes," she says timidly before leaving my room. I guess my daunting presence unnerved her. I noticed that I'm slightly muscular since I joined Dauntless. Probably because of the physical training.

I lay out the clothes she gave me: red slacks, a yellow t-shirt, and a grey sweater. Abnegation colors and Amity colors combined. Combine that with my black boots and I have the appearance of a factionless teenager.

* * *

The women's' bathroom is four doors down. The floor is a dark brown tile, and each shower stall has wooden walls and a plastic curtain separating it from the central aisle. A sign on the back wall says REMEMBER: TO CONSERVE RESOURCES, SHOWERS RUN FOR ONLY FIVE MINUTES.

For five minutes, I shower in cold water and when I enter my room, I put on the clean underwear and the clothes that Susan provided me with. It feels different, wearing loose clothing when I am used to the tight clothing of Dauntless. The grey sweater, yellow shirt, and red slacks look weird with my piercings and the black boots.

People will think I look factionless or that I was a Dauntless initiate cut from initiation.

* * *

An hour later, I heard that the Amity would congregate together to decide our fate and near the appointed time, I join Tobias and Caleb to come get Tris and upon seeing her, I noticed she cut her hair to shoulder length.

"You cut your hair," Caleb says to her, his eyebrows high.

"Yeah," she says. "It's…too hot for long hair."

"Fair enough," says Caleb.

We walk down the hallway together. The floorboards creak beneath our feet. I am still used to hearing my feet against the concrete in the Dauntless compound.

We exit the building. It feels earthy outside.

"Does everyone know you're Marcus's son?" asks Caleb. "The Abnegation, I mean?"

Is Caleb that thick to even mention that around Tobias? He may be intelligent but in Erudite, everyone's level of intelligence varies.

"Not to my knowledge," says Tobias, glancing at Caleb. "And I would appreciate it if you didn't mention it."

"I don't need to mention it. Anyone with eyes can see it for themselves." Caleb frowns at him. "How old are you, anyway?"

"Eighteen."

"And you don't think you're too old to be with my little sister?"

"Eighteen and sixteen is just a two year difference," I put in. "It would be logical to call her your _young _sister, as I know she can take care of herself just fine."

A crowd of people in yellow walks ahead of us, toward a wide, squat building made entirely of glass. Due to the sunlight reflecting off the glass, I see that Tris is covering her eyes with her hand. I keep my head down.

The doors to the building are wide open. I read a book about the five factions and they showed pictures of an Amity greenhouse just like it. Standing in a cluster of roots is Johanna Reyes, her hair falling over the scarred half of her face. I learned from Faction History and that in the book about the factions that the Amity recognize no official leader – they vote on everything, and the result is usually close to unanimous.

The Amity sit on the floor, most with their legs crossed, in knots and clusters that vaguely resemble the tree roots to me. I see those who look like they are from Abnegation sit in tight rows. I sit at the edge of the meeting space behind them. Through my peripheral vision, I see Tris and Tobias sit a few feet away from me.

Johanna lifts her hands and bows her head. All conversation in the room in the room ceases. All around us the Amity sit in silence, some with their eyes closed, some with their lips mouthing words I can't here, some staring at a point far away.

Johanna lifts her head. "We have before us today an urgent question," she says, "which is: How will we conduct ourselves in this time of conflict as people who pursue peace?"

Every Amity turns to the person next to him or her and starts talking.

"How do they get anything done?" I hear Tris ask Tobias.

"They don't care about efficiency," Tobias says. "They care about agreement. Watch."

I watch as people join groups and discuss, ignoring Tris's and Tobias's conversation.

Someone from each group stands and approaches Johanna and they talk so quietly we can't hear.

"They're not going to let us argue with them, are they?" I hear Tris ask.

"I doubt it," Tobias enters.

I look at Tris to see that she has a look of dread on her face. There is a big chance that the Amity will allow them to stay. The Amity are too peaceful for that. There will be strings attached of course.

When everyone has said his or her piece, they sit down again, leaving Johanna alone in the center of the room. She angles her body towards us and folds her hands in front of her. I see Tris tense. Given her body language, she expects the worst.

"Our faction has had a close relationship with Erudite for as long as any of us can remember. We need each other to survive, and we have always cooperated with each other," says Johanna. "But we have also had a strong relationship with Abnegation in the past, and we do not think it is right to revoke the hand of friendship when it has for so long been extended."

Her voice is honey-sweet, and moves like honey too, slow and careful.

"We feel that the only way to preserve our relationships with both factions is to remain impartial and uninvolved," she continues. "Your presence here, though welcome, complicates that. We have arrived at the conclusion that we will establish our faction headquarters as a safe house for members of all factions under a set of conditions.

"The first is that no weaponry of any kind is allowed on the compound. The second is that if any serious conflict arises, whether verbal or physical, all involved parties will be asked to leave. The third is that the conflict may not be discussed, even privately, within the confines of this compound. And that the fourth is that everyone who stays here must contribute to the welfare of this environment by working. We will report this to Erudite, Candor, and Dauntless as soon as we can."

Her stare drifts to Tobias, Tris, and me, and stays there.

"You are welcome to stay here if and only you can abide by our rules, "she says. "That is our decision."

That is bad news for Tris and Tobias, due to their tension with Peter and Marcus respectively. I am going to find a way to channel my emotions differently until I leave for Candor. I look over to see Tris and Tobias grimacing.

* * *

I volunteered for kitchen duty, since I can take out any tension by scrubbing pots and pans. Among the rules listed is no conflict, obviously. Susan and Caleb help prepare lunch while Tobias and I clean the pans, pots, dishes, and cutlery. I'm scrubbing a pan, my sleeves rolled up when I see Tobias staring at the tattoo on one of my forearms.

"What made you decide to get that?" he asks. He knows it looks like Eric's tattoos that he has on both of his forearms.

"It was spontaneous," I say, setting the now clean pan aside before grabbing a pot and I start scrubbing that.

Tobias doesn't say anything but I assume he doesn't want to break the rules here. To release his tension, I put the pot aside and joined Susan and Caleb.

"…I'm very interested in reading about the water filtration system," I hear Caleb tell Susan as they diced up carrots. I grabbed a cutting knife and carrot and do the same.

"What about water filtration systems?" I ask.

"Decided to help us out?" asks Caleb.

"I don't want any conflict with Tobias," I say, focusing on dicing up the carrot.

We are virtually silent, though I hear Susan and Caleb engage in what the Erudite dub, "Stiff flirting" or "Stiff love." Susan is a sweet person, but naïve I should say. I think it's better for her not to know what a snitch her boyfriend is.

I know I shouldn't criticize him if we are both betraying Tris. Perhaps I haven't gone over the shock of a brother betraying a sister.

I imagine what Tris would do if she ever learned that her brother is working with Aunt Jeanine. She doesn't like or trust me because I'm related to Jeanine Matthews. She'll disown Caleb faster than you could say why.

Thing is Caleb didn't seem to be the suspicious type and I have seen Aunt Jeanine be extraordinarily persuasive on those who are not. When she manipulates and persuades you, it is like a poisonous weed is slowly crawling around your body.

The only reason I'm immune to her persuasion and manipulation is because I read about it since age eleven. And I know that Tris doesn't know how my aunt _**fully **_operates.

Tris probably thinks she knows my aunt but she only spoke with her _**once **_or _**twice**_, while I have seen my aunt since I was a child. I know almost everything about my aunt: her mannerisms, how she always exits the car first to feel important, her manipulation tactics, how she persuades you, her gift of words. Almost everything.

What does Tris know? That my aunt masterminded the genocide of innocent Abnegation, her mannerisms, and her gift of using words. What Tris doesn't know is how much power her words can have on unsuspecting individuals, like Caleb.


	23. Chapter Twenty Three

"Biotechnology has been around for a long time, but it wasn't always effective," I hear Caleb tell Tris in the table in front of where Peter and I were sitting with some members of Amity. Peter is wearing a sling around his arm. I cut my peaches up and put them in porridge. I'm not eating the bread because I read that they put peace serum in it. I told Peter to do the same.

Every now and then, I see Tris look at me, like she is suspicious of me.

"Why does fruit taste fresher here than in Dauntless?" Peter says as he ponders his porridge.

"That's because Amity grows it," I say. "It would make sense for them to get the fruit first."

"That makes sense," says Peter, before taking a bite out of his peeled orange. "Wish we had Dauntless cake."

I just laugh a little. I acknowledge that the boy I'm sitting across from is a sociopath, and he is talking to me again after my beat down of him after Tobias thwarted him from throwing Tris off of the chasm. This experience could humble him a bit.

I doubt that it will sit well with Eric if he knew I was talking to Peter. He hates his guts and I bet he still does. But Peter is the only Dauntless I feel comfortable sitting with and I can't sit at the same table with Tris and Tobias if Tris looks at me suspiciously.

"Any idea why Tris would need that hard drive?" asks Peter. "I bet there is more in that thing then simulation information."

"You better not are giving yourself ideas," I warn him.

"Don't start with me, it was Marcus that started that thought," says Peter, before tucking into his porridge.

I look again to Tris and Caleb.

"So, what were they?" I hear Caleb ask Tris. He's asking about her aptitude results.

Tris tenses. "Why do you want to know?"

"Tris," he says to her, "I'm your brother. You can tell me anything.

_Don't tell him. Don't tell him_, I mentally warn her. If she tells him, Caleb will contact Erudite with that information. Knowing my aunt, she probably told Caleb to contact Eric so Eric can give her the information. The chain of information. I acknowledge that it is hypocritical of me, since Caleb and I will betray Tris at some point, but at the current moment, it's still shocks me.

Tris pauses and before I think she has made the right decision, she says, "Abnegation, Dauntless, and Erudite."

"_Three _factions?" he asks.

I don't want to hear anymore. I can't stand seeing a brother betray his sister like this. I abandon my porridge and decide to head into the kitchen to see if they need any help with the dishes.

In there, I see Tobias scrubbing pots and pans in a frenzy, something ticking him off. I promised myself that I would channel my emotions with other things, but I might go crazy after being forced to contain my temper.

Aunt Jeanine told me to contact her when I leave Amity. She might want those names of the Dauntless at Candor. I now know my resolve: I'm leaving here for Candor.

Now.

* * *

"Peter says you're leaving," I hear Tobias say as he enters the room where we turned in our weapons. When I decided that I would leave, I dressed in the clothing I came here in along with a grey Abnegation overcoat supplied here.

"I am," I say, tightening the knapsack of meager belongings. "I'm going to Candor. My brother is there."

"You do realize how dangerous this is?" he says. "Entering the city two days after the conflict started?"

I put my gun in my holster and glare at him. "I'm Dauntless. You don't think I can take care of myself? Besides, if I stay any longer, I'll go mad."

I turn my heel and walk from the room, leaving the building.

The sunrays leak through the orchards as I walk towards the fence. It's not dark, so I can see where I'm going. I look back at the horizon, wondering what is beyond Amity. Maybe some abandoned civilization.

We can't be the only ones. When I was ten, I remember asking mother if there were other fenced-in, faction-based communities like ours. She told me it was not impossible, for it would be illogical if we were the only members of the human race. Why are we fenced-in? Were we punished? Are we some type of experiment? I can only say that the answer is beyond Amity's farms.

The Dauntless no longer open the fence, so instead, some members of Amity have to open it for those who are leaving. Once the gates open, I enter the city, leaving the peace faction behind me.

* * *

Candor headquarters is large. It is a wide cement building that overlooks what was once the river. The sign says MERC IS MART – it used to read "Merchandise Mart," but most people refer to it as the Merciless Mart, because the Candor are merciless, but honest.

I contacted Aunt Jeanine as soon as I left the Amity compound. She told me to get the names of the Dauntless-born initiates and the transfers and send in the information via phone tomorrow and she would send in a task force as possible. She didn't give me the date nor who was leading it.

I take a deep breath before entering the doors. The lobby is large and well- lit, with black marble floors that stretch back to an elevator bank. A ring of white marble tiles in the center of the room form the symbol of Candor: a man holding two scales, meant to symbolize the weighing of truth against lies. The room is with armed Dauntless.

"Identify yourself and tell the reason you are here?" asks a female Dauntless whose arm is in a sling.

"Isobel Matthews, and I came from the Amity compound just now," I say flatly. "I'm here to join my brother. He's a Candor initiate."

"What's his name?" asks another Dauntless.

"Theodore Matthews," I say promptly.

The Dauntless look at each other before the first one says, "Follow us."

* * *

Usually, during this time, I hear that the Candor give the truth serum or a lie detector test to those seeking refuge here. They don't want those keeping secrets. They decided the lie detector test for me. However, usually the interrogation is public so we can be honest to the Candor, though in my case, it is private.

Probably because of the fact that I'm related to the main representative of another faction. But it still seems odd.

The interrogation process was short. Lie detector tests go by heart rate, because if a person lies, their heartbeat picks up. It could be that they are nervous, not that they lie. I was asked about why I was here and why I came from Amity and why I went there in the first place. I kept myself calm and answered the questions they wanted to hear.

Niles, who interrogated me, leaves the room, after having unhooked me from the lie detector machine. I sit, my palms to my black pants, breathing deeply.

A few minutes later, Niles comes in, with a blonde boy behind him. Despite that he doesn't wear the horn-rimmed glasses and he has carefree side bangs, I recognize him.

"Theodore," I say, launching myself at him.

"I miss you too," he says, hugging me. He releases me and says, "Look at you. Piercings and everything."

"You don't have your glasses," I acknowledge.

"What's the point of wearing them here," he says.

* * *

"I knew you had to be her brother," Christina to my brother, during lunch at the cafeteria in Candor headquarters. "I thought you two slightly resembled each other."

I wasn't surprised that Christina went to Candor, since it's her faction of origin. Then again, Theodore told me that Candor is the base for the Dauntless – loyal Dauntless, they call it.

The Dauntless traitors, they call them, are based in Erudite.

"Aren't you going to eat your ice cream before it melts?" says my brother.

Each faction had a certain treat: for Dauntless it was chocolate cake, Erudite it was fizzy drinks and for Candor it is ice cream. I hesitantly take a spoonful of the white frozen cream and put the spoon in my mouth. A chill instantly rushes through my body. I have never tasted anything so cold.

Christina laughs. I wonder if I made a face when I took my first bite of ice cream.

"Why do you eat this stuff?" I demand. "It's cold."

"You never had ice cream?" asks Christina.

"Erudite specialty is soda," I say. "The popular one is the clear soda that tastes like lemon-lime."

"I never knew the Erudite liked caffeine," says Christina.

"We ate meals that helped contribute to brain power," says Theodore.

"So I guess no Dauntless cake," says Christina.

"No," says Theodore. "Joining a faction for food will be illogical."

* * *

For those taking refuge in Candor, we are given the initiates dormitory to sleep in. From what Theodore tells me, they put the Candor-borns and the transfers together during initiation. I take the bottom bunk while Theodore takes the top bunk.

Sometime, I think I hear Christina sniffling in her sleep and muttering Will's name before I hear her scream no at someone.

I hop from my bed and I'm not the only one. Uriah, and another (Marlene, I think it is) rush to Christina.

"Christina! Christina! It's just a nightmare," says Uriah. Christina rouses and bursts into tears.

"It's okay," Marlene assures her.

"What happened?" I ask.

Christina turns her blood shot eyes to me, wipes a tear and says, "Will. He died in the attack."

Will. The last time I saw him, he was under simulation. Whoever killed him must have been scared senseless. When you're in that simulation, you see nothing; hear nothing and you can't think. You're in a blank-minded sleep.

"I just want to know who did it," she says, crying.

I offer to go get her a glass of water, Uriah following.

Once at the drinking fountain and filling the cup with water, Uriah asks, "Who do you think did it?"

I shrug. "I don't know. I'm guessing the person was panicking. People do stuff they wouldn't usually do out of panic."

"I see what you're saying," says Uriah. "The Erudite were enslaving us. She'll understand that when the grieving process is over."

When you're grieving, you go by emotion, which is perfectly fine, but logic is suspended.

Uriah and I walk in silence as we returned to the dormitory.


	24. Chapter Twenty Four

"Have you heard anything from Tris? Four?" asks Christina during breakfast, her eyes bloodshot from the tears she shed last night.

"They're at Amity, with Peter," I say. I left out the part that Marcus Eaton tagged along as well.

"Peter in Amity, we'll see how that will last," says Christina. "Hopefully Four and Tris stay there and not come here."

"Why is that?" I ask.

Christina leans towards me and says, "They are wanted for crimes against humanity, with Tris being the accomplice."

Four? Tris? Crimes against humanity.

"I know, it's ridiculous," says Christina, shaking her head. "Tris would never do anything like that. Sure, Four is intimidating but I could never see him committing crimes against humanity. They say he was running the simulation."

"Is it possible that he was under simulation himself?" I ask.

"You could be right," says Christina, before taking a bite of her cereal.

"They'll learn the truth once they use the truth serum," says Theodore, taking a seat next to me.

The truth serum lowers your mental defenses, enabling you to tell the truth. It takes a strong mind and will to resist it.

However, though…

"They better not use it on Four," I say, putting my spoon in my cereal.

"It doesn't hurt," says Theodore. "Why are you worried about Four?"

"Some things are meant to be kept quiet," I say briskly before putting the spoonful of cereal in my mouth.

I count who's here. Aunt Jeanine told me to give me the names of only the Dauntless-born and the transfer initiates.

My friends. They have no idea that I will betray them. I don't want to either.

I'll call Aunt Jeanine after breakfast.

* * *

I walk around the Merciless Mart, finding an area where I wouldn't be detected. For the first time in two days, Eric invades my thoughts. How I miss him. I would like to feel his kiss again, to wrap myself around the warmth of his body, feel his fingers twine with my hair…

Don't assume I can't function without him. I can function, but the distance aches my core.

I sit down somewhere, flip open the phone and dial Aunt Jeanine's number before pressing the phone to my ear.

"I assume you have the names," says Aunt Jeanine briskly.

I slowly give them to her and she says, "Expect an taskforce in a few days, that way we can see who's Divergent and who isn't. You'll come to Erudite with the taskforce afterwards. That's where your loyalties lie."

I'm conflicted. Anyone with eyes would know that the only reason I'm with the Erudite is because of Eric and to protect myself and my parents, though they will recognize the former and not the latter. I don't really agree with Aunt Jeanine's agenda.

* * *

"This is really irritating," I hear Christina say as I entered the Candor dormitory.

"It's not that hard," I hear Theodore say. Christina, my brother, Marlene, and Uriah are sitting on one of the bottom bunks, and Christina is trying to solve a rubrics cube.

"Let me figure it out," says Uriah, taking the rubrics cube from Christina's hand and he turns the sections around.

Marlene looks at me and says, "Why do Erudite find the difficult things simple?"

I shrug. "It's in our nature. We tend to find the complex things simple."

"Well, I guess that's enough problem solving," says Uriah, setting the rubrics cube on the table. "Let's get some ice cream."

And I follow them.

* * *

The next morning, I eat my breakfast of cereal before taking a walk around the Merciless Mart. A lot of thoughts occupy my mind. If there was nothing planned against Abnegation, if I had joined Dauntless under my own terms, I would have signed up for work in the control room, and administer aptitude tests. I heard it takes a lot of expertise for that.

In moments, I see two figures go into view. At first because of their clothes, I thought they were factionless teenagers until they come closer. Tobias and Tris. Have things gone wrong in the Amity compound that they decided to come to Candor?

Or when the taskforce arrived, did it force them out of Amity?

I slink back into the Merciless Mart before they enter, desiring not to be there when they arrest them for something they didn't do. I was running the simulation logs, so why am I…?

Unless Aunt Jeanine has Candor deep in her pockets, and she probably had strings pulled to ensure that I arrive at Candor without problems.

* * *

When news of Tris's and Tobias's arrests is circulated among the compound, should I say results with the strength of an atomic bomb? The Dauntless was split into three groups on the issue: the first group was convinced that Tris and Tobias didn't commit crimes against humanity, the second undecided, and the third were convinced that Tris and Tobias were Dauntless traitors.

Niles, who interrogated me, was going to interrogate them under the influence of the truth serum. What the Candor don't understand is that some things are meant to be kept quiet, like with Tobias. The young Dauntless think that bravery even means taking abuse. I don't call it cowardice that Tobias escaped from his father. I read that people have to escape from certain situations.

In my book, escaping from an abusive home life is not cowardice. It's escaping from a dangerous environment. I'm sure no one wants the PTSD that comes with it.

At seven, all of us have gathered in a three story room with white marble floors and in the center of the symbol that is in the middle of the room are two empty chairs. I sit between my brother and Uriah at the first row of the tiered benches, with Jack Kang, representative of Candor, sitting in the middle.

Tris and Tobias, with Christina and another Dauntless guard enter the room and when they take the center of the room they are greeted with murmurs and jeers. The ones jeering wouldn't like it if they had to spill their secrets in front of everyone.

Niles comes forward to the center, carrying a black box in his hands.

"My name is Niles," he says. "I will be your questioner. You –" he points at Tobias. "You will be going first. So if you will please step forward…"

Tobias lets go of Tris's hand and leaves her to stand at the edge of the Candor symbol with Christina. Niles opens the box and hands Tobias one of the needles and an antiseptic wipe. After he injects the serum under his neck, sits in one of the chairs and the interrogation begins.

The interrogation is long and unfortunately under the truth serum he revealed why he left Abnegation for Dauntless. The truth serum proved his innocence that he didn't run the simulation, but at the end, many of the Dauntless sit in stony silence, with stony faces. I wonder if ruthlessness cuts away compassion.

Then it's Tris's turn, though not as long as Tobias's, it was still humiliating and at the end, when Niles asks what she regrets, Tris says, "Will. I shot Will, while he was under simulation. I killed him. He was going to kill me, but I killed him. My friend."

I imagine Tris shooting Will, who is blank-faced and unable to be reasoned with. Most likely it was out of panic.

Most of us are silent when we return to our sleeping quarters for the night.

* * *

At breakfast, I spot Tobias sitting in one of the tables, eating breakfast alone. Tris is absent. Probably trying to avoid Christina.

"Morning," I say sitting next to him.

"Hello, Isobel," says Tobias, not looking at me.

"Rough night?" I ask.

"I don't understand the Candor sometimes," says Tobias. "My past was something I didn't want to discuss."

"Hey, Stiff, go back to where you came from! Cowards don't belong in Dauntless," someone leered before I heard laughter and I turn around to see a group of Dauntless boys, one age shy of no longer becoming dependents, laugh. I slowly rise.

"What is a girl like you going to do about it," says the person who uttered the insult, standing up and smirking.

I launch myself at him, punching his nose, his jaw, his eye before kicking him down and kicking him on the floor. His Dauntless friends watch the scene in shock.

I stop and say, "You're an idiot for mocking an eighteen year old. If you were at Dauntless I would hang you over the chasm for five minutes."

With that I leave the room.

* * *

I don't come down during lunch as I don't want to be surrounded by Dauntless who think that escaping from an abusive environment is cowardice.

All of the sudden, I hear glass shatter from the lobby.

"Traitors!" I hear someone shout from the first floor. Then gunshots, but not normal gunshots.

I take my gun and hide by my bunk. I was ordered to stay low until it was over.

I wait a few minutes before I see a Dauntless wearing a blue armband enter the room. White smoke fills the room. I place my fingers on my nose and mouth. If I inhale anything with my mouth it will get through my nose.

She's carrying a narrow gun with a clear barrel where I can see blue beams. I jerk the trigger with one hand and shoot her in the abdomen, causing her to fall.

I approach her twitching body and pick up the gun with the blue beams. I unload it. Needles. Needles with a fluid at the base.

A blue-colored serum. Must contain transmitters for a simulation program. I set aside the weapon and slink away from the dormitory and see that unconscious bodies are lying about. They must have been gassed.

Like a fox, I hide when I see a Dauntless take someone who is not unconscious. But why am I?

I decide to risk going up to the fourth floor when I feel that someone is following me. Before I react, I feel a burst of pain through my shoulder, knocking me down before feeling another burst of pain in my leg.

It's not long before I feel rough hands grab the collar of my grey jacket and drag me.

I get the feeling that some of the Dauntless who aligned themselves with the Erudite don't know who I am.

* * *

I'm bleeding. Heavily. I feel my body drop when I'm dragged to the elevator. Wherever the bullets hit, I hope the bullets didn't hit arteries or veins.

The elevator opens to the elevator bank and I'm tossed into the room.

"What is this?" I hear someone shout, enraged. Eric.

All I can do is see what's in my vision. People are kneeling in the elevator bank, not by their own will. One of them is a boy who looks ten.

I hear footsteps approach me followed by a gunshot. A body slumps to the floor near me.

From the amount of blood I'm losing I feel unconsciousness drag me in and the last thing I remember is being lifted up.

* * *

I feel like I'm slowly drifting in the sea of unconsciousness. Pain sears through my body and slowly, I register a few things about my surroundings. An occasional beeping, a tube stuck in me, and I feel as if the places where I was shot were bandaged.

I slowly open my eyes to see a light hanging over the room and I notice that I'm wearing what resembles a blue infirmary garb. I'm not in Dauntless. The room looks sterilized and professional.

Erudite.

I slowly sit up, my shoulder giving a dull pain as I do so.

"It's not your fault," I hear Aunt Jeanine say to someone briskly. "She almost died from blood loss when she arrived. One Dauntless's stupidity is to blame for the hindrance of your priorities."

"She probably knew what was going on and was deciding to stay low when she was shot," says Eric. "He probably confused her for one of the Divergent."

"Even if she was shot by the needles, she would have been rendered half conscious," says Aunt Jeanine. "I applaud you for putting her injuries first. She's too valuable for my cause."

_Valuable_. Like I'm only useful because of my intellect.

Eric says nothing.

I see the door open a crack before I hear Aunt Jeanine say, "She's awake. I'll leave you two alone."

The door opens and Eric walks in.

"How's your shoulder and leg?" he asks sitting down. He looks at me with genuine concern.

"They don't hurt like they used to," I say before asking, "What time is it?"

"Ten after seven in the evening," answers Eric. "When was the last time you ate?"

"This morning," I say.

"Let's put some food in your stomach," says Eric, "then we'll talk."

* * *

**See the twist here. The events are mainly canon except that it is AU involving Eric's fate. That makes it two peace conditions instead of three.**


	25. Chapter Twenty Five

**We'll get into the **_**Allegiant **_**stuff, folks.**

* * *

Five minutes later, someone sends in a tray of food. A bread roll, mash potatoes, and a hamburger. I cut my meat up and dip them in the mash potatoes before eating a bite. Back in Erudite, for lunch, we would eat food like salmon and brown rice to enhance our brain power.

Wait, I'm in Erudite. Away from Candor.

"After I sent some of the Dauntless upstairs, I thought I heard a gunshot and when I investigated, I saw that the room was empty and that the needle gun was dismantled," says Eric.

"That was me," I say. "Go ahead. Tell me that my foolishness interrupted the task force that you led."

Eric leans towards, looking stern.

"Foolishness? You were intelligent to keep away from the action until Simon was stupid enough to shoot you in the shoulder and leg," says Eric. "He lacked Erudite brains. Also, I'm glad that something put the mission on hold because I don't think I would have the stomach to shoot a ten year old boy in the head."

"That's surprising. A few weeks ago, you wouldn't mind," I retort.

"You really believe that your tenth fear wouldn't have affected me?" he asks. "Besides, your aunt would have been furious if I let you bleed to death."

Eric sits back, balling his fists.

"If I didn't love you, I wouldn't spend my minutes bringing you here," says Eric. He wants to say more but I could tell he can't because the Erudite headquarters is bugged.

"Oh," I say.

Eric doesn't say anything.

"Eric? Are you aware of a Caleb Prior working for Aunt Jeanine?" I ask.

"The Stiff Erudite-wannabe?" asks Eric. "He informed me about Tris's aptitude results."

I knew it. Besides Stiff Erudite-wannabe suits Caleb.

"I will be surprised if he doesn't chicken out," says Eric. "It would be logical if he did."

* * *

By eight thirty, I'm unhooked by the IV and given a pair of clothes. Dauntless clothes. Due to the injury on my leg, I'm required to wear a brace and cast over my leg until my leg has fully healed.

A few days they say.

Eric carries me from Erudite headquarters and I cling to him as he carries me through the compound.

A few minutes later I hear mom shout, "What happened?"

"Some moronic Dauntless soldier," says Eric. "Mistook her for one of the Divergent."

"As if she would be," says mom as Eric sets me down in front of her.

"I'm sure she needs her rest," says Eric from behind. "She most likely had a long day."

I did.

After entering the house, I travel up the stairs, good foot up first.

"Whose idea was it to send me here?" I ask Eric.

"Jeanine's. She thought it was best for you to recuperate in familiar surroundings," says Eric. "Also, she didn't see the logic of you bunking in Erudite headquarters when you lived here."

She probably wants to isolate me from the other Dauntless after what happened today. Upon, entering my room, I feel like I stumbled into the bedroom of another girl. Bookcases almost cover every inch of the walls, saving spaces for my bed, desk, and dresser. The blue slippers still sat where I last kicked them off the morning of Choosing Day. My bed was made, as if mom expected for me to return home that day. My yearbook lay at the chest containing more books and I open it. I look through the pages until I see my yearbook portrait that was taken this fall.

The girl staring back looks like me. Only her hair is partially restrained in a clip, there are no piercings on her face, and she is wearing a blue button-up blouse with a white one under it. We share the same dark blond hair, plump lips, and green eyes. Next to my portrait is Theodore, his hair slicked back and wearing his old glasses.

"You look different there," says Eric.

"Want to see the yearbook from two years ago? I always kept them," I say.

"I didn't," says Eric as I pulled the yearbook from two years ago out from the chest. "I never saw the point."

I sift through the pages until I get to one of the last pages. Situated between the portraits of Isidor and an girl named Claire (She transferred to Amity), is Eric's school portrait. He hasn't changed too much, only that his hair wasn't lightly shaved on all sides and he didn't have a tattoo running up his neck or piercings above his right eyebrow.

"I remember when you used to look like that? Why didn't you take up the glasses while you were a dependent?" I ask.

"I didn't see the point in wearing them if I had perfect eyesight," says Eric, lifting me up. "I found it rather illogical."

He places me on my bed and takes off my shoes, being extra careful when taking off the shoe of the foot of the leg that was shot.

"Do you want me to stay?" he asks.

"Yes," I say.

"Alright," he says, before taking off his shoes, turning off the lights, and he lies next to me, carefully supporting my shoulder.

* * *

At eight in the morning, I am summoned to Aunt Jeanine's office, guarded by two Dauntless in blue armbands.

"Have a seat, Isobel," says Aunt Jeanine as I enter the office and I sit in front of her desk. She weaves her fingers together. "How are your shoulder and leg?"

"Sore," I answer before saying, "Aunt Jeanine? Why didn't Eric get into trouble for not completing the mission you assigned him?"

"You see, sometimes things happen that we don't expect," says Aunt Jeanine. "It wasn't my plan to have some Dauntless shoot you. If Eric didn't abort the Candor raid, blood loss would have been on your death certificate. It's true, he didn't finish what I sent him out for him to do, but he aborted the mission because he had to. I don't want to risk losing a genetic relative because of some oafish Dauntless. Now, I summoned you for a reason. What do you think is outside the fence?"

"Either it's abandoned civilization or other fenced-in, faction based communities," I answer. "Most likely the latter, because it's illogical for us to be alone."

Aunt Jeanine curves her lips into a cool smile. "We are not alone, that is correct."

"Do you know what is outside the fence?" I ask.

"I think I can trust you and Eric with information after showing you a file," she says.

* * *

"Tris and Four. They were still in Candor when I left their compound," says Eric as we both walk down the hall.

"They probably think you are planning another attack," I say.

"Let them think what they think," says Eric as we near the elevator.

"Is there a particular reason why Aunt Jeanine wants to show us something?" I ask.

"All she told me that we were to keep our mouths shut after the video," says Eric.

"Is this private?" I ask.

"Only for Jeanine's close associates," says Eric.

The elevator door opens and we get out. People stop as we pass by. I'm wearing Dauntless clothing: black pants, one of my long sleeved shirts, my black boots with the cast making me limp slightly, but over the black clothes, I'm wearing a blue, clean-cut jacket that is unbuttoned.

Eric opens the conference roomand I enter with him following me.

"Right on time," says Aunt Jeanine. "Will you have a seat?

Eric and I take seats around the small, round glass table.

"As you know, this is purely confidential," says Aunt Jeanine. "Only you two and my special agent know about this. I trusted him to view it first, just to process his reaction."

Eric snorts in disbelief. Why did she show this to Caleb Prior, an Erudite initiate, first?

"Just to warn you, this may shock you," she says, turning on the projector. "And you will see why we are protected inside the fence.

She turns on the projector connected to her laptop and darkens the room. Minutes later, we see a woman with short brown hair sitting at a metal desk, her hands folded, in an obscure location.

"Hello," she says. "My name is Amanda Ritter. In this file I will only tell you what you need to know. I am the leader of an organization fighting for justice and peace. This fight has become increasingly more important – and consequently, nearly impossible – in the past few decades. That is because of this."

Images flash across the wall, almost too fast for me to see but I pay attention. A man on his knees with a gun pressed to his forehead. The woman pointing it at him, her face emotionless.

From a distance, a small person hanging by the neck from a telephone pole.

A hole in the ground the size of a house, full of bodies. The other images showing carnage go by faster. I look to Eric to see his reaction. He's deep in thought, his hand over his chin.

The woman reappears on the screen.

"You do not remember any of it," she says. "But if you are thinking these actions are the actions of a terrorist group or a tyrannical government regime, you are only partially correct. Half of the people in those pictures, committing those terrible acts, were your neighbors. Your relatives. Your coworkers. The battle we are fighting is not against a particular group. It is against human nature itself – or at least what it has become."

Suddenly, the alarm goes off, causing Aunt Jeanine to pause the video.

"Intruder on the top floor. Intruder on the top floor," repeats a robotic male voice.

"Who dared enter my lab?" she demanded.

Eric runs out and I follow after him.

I hear a gunshot before someone yells, "Traitors!"

Two people, a man and a woman, stagger out of the elevator, with the woman being wounded. Eric lifts his gun and fires in the air, like a warning shot. The duo glance at him before running towards one of the fire exits.

* * *

"Good thing my computer was in the conference room," says Aunt Jeanine after returning from her private lab.

"Any ideas on who did it?" asks Eric.

"Tori Wu and Ezekiel Pedrad," says Aunt Jeanine. "Probably trying to find evidence that condemns me of killing her brother. If I remember correctly, he went _outside _the fence."

"Outside the fence?" I ask.

"I think I can trust you two with this information," says Aunt Jeanine.

* * *

That evening Aunt Jeanine went with Max to talk with Jack in Candor on peace conditions after yesterday's aborted mission. The peace conditions are a) hand over the Divergent to Erudite headquarters and b) give the list of names of those who haven't been shot by needles.

Meanwhile, Eric and I are in the top floor, researching the file that is known as the _Chicago Experiment _and genetic manipulation. We were shown the rest of the video and we learned that we were purposely isolated from the rest of the world until there was an abundance of those with more flexible minds, also known as Divergents.

Also, at the end of the video, Amanda Ritter says that she would join us and would take the name of Edith Prior.

Edith Prior. Edith is an Abnegation name but she resided in Erudite. It says it in the Erudite census.

"Imagine. Your entire world, your life, is a lie," says Eric. "The government actually thought that removing certain genes would improve things. A murder gene. How ridiculous."

"Genetic manipulation is damaging," I say. "They took away someone's qualities by doing that. I knew that our faction traits were in our genes, but not like this. What's good about manipulating someone's genetic make-up?"

"What doesn't sit well with me was that we were living in a government experiment," says Eric. "I didn't want my life planned out by pencil pushers. I now feel like I'm in an insane asylum with those whose genes have been messed with."

Nothing seemed the same ever since we learned about the truth. It doesn't sit well with me either. I get what Eric is saying. The fence is imprisoning us, not protecting us from the outside.

"How much do you think Caleb knows?" I ask.

Eric barks a laugh. "He's born a Stiff. I doubt Jeanine would tell him everything."

The distribution of information is unfair on both sides. Aunt Jeanine showed the video to Caleb first but didn't show it to us. After she showed it to us, she gave us almost every immaculate detail. With that, we learned that the Edith Prior video was partially correct, but there are some things missing.

"Eric, did you ever think that we were alone?" I ask him.

"I found it impossible," says Eric. "What piqued my curiosity is about the silence about what is outside Amity. I always found it illogical that we would be on our own. Because when you think of it, how do we get the things that kept us going?"

I understood what he meant.

Eric and I leave her private laboratory and decide to steal some food from the Erudite kitchen.

"If we really want to get the full aspect of this, our best chance is to get outside the fence," says Eric.

"And leave the city," I say.

"Isobel, we're in a freaking experiment," says Eric. "Whoever is running it is close by. That way they can keep a better idea of the city."

Before I could respond we hear a scuffle.

"I'm switching over! I'm switching over!" I hear someone yell. I recognize that voice.

Peter.

* * *

**Eric and Isobel would be going outside the fence and arriving at the Bureau of Genetic Welfare earlier before **_**Allegiant**_**. If Eric defected in Canon and if he learned what was out there, he wouldn't wait on leaving. **

**Also, Jeanine knew that Amar and George went outside the fence, but did nothing as she knew the Bureau wouldn't hand them over.**

**Speaking of the Bureau, they know what Isobel and Eric are planning, since they watch the city.**


	26. Chapter Twenty Six

Last night, Max got shot while making the peace negotiations with Jack Kang from Candor. Aunt Jeanine said she didn't trust him to speak in his own words, so she told Max what to say in an earpiece.

Peter, who arrived last night, joined the Dauntless that allied with the Erudite and let's just say that Eric wasn't the least pleased.

"Sources from Candor say that Beatrice and other Dauntless went to the Dauntless compound last night," says Aunt Jeanine as Eric and I followed her through the corridors. "We'll decide how to bring her here but first I want you to meet my whistleblower in person."

Whistleblower. Caleb Prior.

She led us to the computer lab in the second floor, one reserved for members that are not dependents, and opens the door. There are only three people in the room and Caleb Prior, now donned in the Erudite blue suit, is sitting nearby. He looks up and stands upon seeing us.

"Caleb, come with us," she says. He follows us down the corridor until we follow her into an empty classroom.

After Aunt Jeanine closes the door behind her, she says, "Caleb, this is Eric Matheson, a Dauntless leader I recommended you to reveal your sister's aptitude results."

Caleb pauses before shaking Eric's hand. "Are you rather young for being a Dauntless leader?"

"Age doesn't matter in Dauntless," says Eric. "I thought you would research into that being that you are surrounded by computers and books."

"Hefty strings must have been pulled then," Caleb says sharply.

"Now, now, let's not be foolish," says Aunt Jeanine. She gestures to me and says, "This is my niece Isobel. She revealed the Amity safe house and gave us the names of the Dauntless in Candor."

Caleb shakes my hand.

"I'll allow you to become acquainted before you meet me in the conference room," says Aunt Jeanine and she leaves the room.

"So, a Stiff joining Erudite," says Eric. "Usually doesn't happen often."

"I've always felt like I belong here," says Caleb. "I wasn't too fond of hiding my inquisitiveness and my fondness for books."

"Books are indeed enticing," says Eric. "I suppose you inherited that inquisitiveness from your father."

"Yes – how do you know?" Caleb asks, bewildered.

"My family, the Matthews', and the Prior's had been mutual friends for some time," says Eric smoothly. "Only for them to fall out when your father became a Stiff."

Eric moves closer to Caleb, who doesn't waver.

"Let me make this clear: you may have a fondness for literature and have an inquisitive nature like the Erudite, however, you're still a Stiff. If you're born one, you stay one, even if a Stiff joins Erudite or Dauntless," says Eric quietly. "There is still a lot you need to learn. It takes a transfer initiate twice the time to understand this faction then an Erudite-born transfer."

Caleb glares at Eric, who smirks in satisfaction.

"Meet you in the conference room," says Eric, before leaving the room.

"How old is he?" asks Caleb.

"Eighteen," I answer promptly.

"He looks twenty," says Caleb.

"Call it good genetics," I say. "Also, I'm surprised that you haven't chickened out by now."

I turn and leave Caleb in the room.

* * *

"There must be a way to bring Beatrice here," says Aunt Jeanine.

"Good way is through trickery," says Eric.

"My idea is that Caleb go to Dauntless, tell Tris that he needs help with retrieving –" I begin before Caleb cuts me off.

"We could use the simulation," says Caleb. "Inform her that every time she doesn't arrive a Dauntless will die via simulation every two days."

That didn't just come out of his own cerebrum? That's plain murder.

But he could be trying to impress my aunt.

Aunt Jeanine thinks it through before saying, "That's very brilliant, Caleb."

Eric and I scowl at him.

"We'll start tonight and hopefully, tomorrow, we will receive the results we want," says Aunt Jeanine.

When leaving the conference room, I hear Eric tell Caleb, "Remember, this was your idea, not mine, so don't look at me like that."

* * *

Eric says that our first step before leaving the city is to permanently disable the tracking system that was activated the moment the tracking chips were injected. The Erudite can access files on other computers and the tracking data is on Dauntless computers. During lunch, I entered the password for the Dauntless computer system on a computer in the computer lab. Restricted so that only those working closely with Aunt Jeanine could use them.

When Theodore and I were long, Aunt Jeanine taught us an overdrive where you permanently erase a software system from the hard drive and I still remember how.

I scrolled through the data before clicking on the file _Tracking Information_. On there were names of all five Dauntless leaders including me and their status, with Max as deceased. I must damage all files in this file in order to decrease suspicion. I typed in the command "Remove tracking data from hard drive" and a box popped up saying, "This program override will permanently prevent the tracking chips to be activated when you go missing. Do you want to go through with this action?" I select the yes box and the contents of the folder becomes completely blank.

I deleted the folder before signing off from the Dauntless computer system.

* * *

Dinner is at six in the evening and Eric and I sit at a table, not far from Peter, which is surprising, given that Eric hates Peter's guts.

"Is there any particular reason you decided to switch over to the Erudite?" Eric asks him.

"I was tired of being surrounded by traitors," says Peter, his mouth full.

"You know you can choke yourself if you talk with food in your mouth," Eric points out.

I see Caleb enter the cafeteria and heading straight to the coffee pot.

"Looks like Jeanine has selected her pet of the month," says Peter resentfully as Caleb fills his Styrofoam cup before leaving.

"A Stiff of all people," says Eric. "It's going to get into his head."

"Why does he need coffee for?" I ask. "It's after five."

"Probably meeting with your aunt on something," says Eric spitefully. "He thinks he has been given exclusive information when we know more than he does."

"About what?" asks Peter curiously.

"You'll learn soon enough," says Eric.

* * *

Later that night, I decide to get a cup of water, my throat dry. I carefully slide from the bed, and move my good foot first before leaving my room for the bathroom, trying not to wake Eric up.

The light fills the bathroom as I turn on the sink and pour water in a plastic cup. After drinking it, I look at the mirror.

Weeks ago, I never knew how our society worked. For years, we were told that war divided us into five factions. We didn't know we are isolated and grouped because of some experiment which was the result of genetic manipulation perpetrated by the government. Hopefully, Eric and I will get the rest of the details when we go outside the fence soon.

I slink back into the bedroom, turning off the bathroom light and returned to the bed.

* * *

This morning, there are tell-tale signs of winter's approach: frost on the ground, the air biting your nose. This is the time for hot chocolate and chili. Aunt Jeanine isn't a fan of chili because she doesn't want to pass too much gas.

At Erudite headquarters, I go to the cafeteria to get hot chocolate when I see Caleb getting his morning coffee. Apparently, he's memorized my footsteps and the light clunk of my cast after one day and he glances at my direction.

"Did you have trouble sleeping last night after drinking all that coffee?" I ask.

"It's not your business what I was doing last night," says Caleb sharply. "No one is supposed to know what is happening outside the fence."

"You think you're the only person that my aunt told about what is outside the fence?" I ask, raising my pierced eyebrow. "Eric and I were told later about it but we know a lot more then you do."

"Who leaked it to you two?" he asks.

"The same person who gave you the info," I say, pouring the hot chocolate into a Styrofoam cup before leaving the cafeteria.

* * *

"What happens if I dyed a paralytic serum purple?" asks Peter in an empty laboratory. He's bored and he asked Aunt Jeanine what to do and she thinks he's organizing serums.

"They'll confuse it for the death serum," I answer. "Why do you ask?"

"Nothing," says Peter, putting serums in their appropriate places.

"Peter," I hear Caleb say. "Jeanine has told me that Eric wants to have a word with you."

"Now you're her messenger boy," says Peter. "Now when Tris finds out about you, you're welcome to join the People Tris Hates Club. There's only me, Isobel, and Eric, so, feel free when she starts hating you."

So, Peter started a club of hated people without mentioning it beforehand? Then again, this is Peter.

"Have you heard me? Eric wants to speak with you," says Caleb sharply.

Peter rolls his eyes before leaving the room muttering under his breath. I leave the room, leaving Caleb behind.

I take a walk around the corridors for ten minutes when I see Peter, looking agitated.

"What did Eric want?" I ask.

"Some Dauntless got food poisoning this morning," says Peter. "I was supposed to be off tonight but since this idiot got sick, I have to take his night shift tonight."

Peter. Complaining when things don't go his way. How typical.

* * *

That night, my mind is not thick with dreams. Instead, I think about everything I processed a few years ago. Aunt Jeanine has said for years that we are protected from what's behind the fence.

What if we are not the only experiment? Are there others? I don't doubt it. Since the genetic manipulation was widespread, I'm sure there are other cities that they are probably trying to heal genetics.

That will only be answered when Eric and I go outside the fence.


	27. Chapter Twenty Seven

"Caleb has proven to be an asset last night," says Aunt Jeanine in five thirty the next morning as Eric, two other Dauntless, and I followed her to the corridor that leads to a cellblock. "Tris does indeed value her friends."

So Tris did come. I wonder if Caleb is going to either step aside or try to save his sister. Seeing that Aunt Jeanine shares the same intelligence as a computer, it won't be any good.

We stop at one of the metal doors, with Peter standing by. Peter presses the buttons on the keypad and the door slides open. Tris, wearing an oversized black sweater, looks up at Aunt Jeanine. She stands up.

"Hello, Beatrice," says Aunt Jeanine. "I thought you might be the one who came."

In fact, Aunt Jeanine _**planned**_ on her coming.

"Hello, Jeanine," says Tris, looking around at us. I know she is looking at Eric, Peter, the other two Dauntless, and I.

"I'd like to know what time it is," says Tris.

"Thirty minutes after five in the morning," I tell her promptly.

Aunt Jeanine shoots me a warning look before turning to Tris and says, "I'm sure my Dauntless companions are disappointed that you have not tried to claw my eyes out yet."

"That would be stupid," answers Tris flatly.

"True," says Aunt Jeanine. "But in keeping with your 'act first think second' behavioral trend."

"I'm sixteen." Tris purses her lips. "I change."

"How refreshing," says Aunt Jeanine. "Let's go on a little tour, shall we?"

Aunt Jeanine steps back and gestures to the doorway. Tris walks out, with Eric and me in front of her, Peter behind her, and the other two Dauntless at either side of her. We follow Aunt Jeanine through three hallways and pass through the serum research room full of the Erudite and we follow Jeanine through a doorway.

In this room, is a metal table, with a heart monitor next to it, and there is a camera dangling above. I see Tris shudder. All of us know what will happen here. Aunt Jeanine has been planning to kill the lab rat when she is done studying her. It's not pretty to refer Tris as a lab rat, but that is what Aunt Jeanine has reduced her to.

"I am very pleased that _you_, in particular, are here," says Aunt Jeanine. She walks around Tris and stands behind the table, her fingers drumming on the metal surface. "I am pleased, of course, because of your aptitude results. Even among the Divergent, you are somewhat of an oddity, because you have aptitude for three factions. Abnegation, Dauntless, and Erudite."

Tris glances at me, her eyes resentful, before turning back to Aunt Jeanine.

"Being that Isobel overheard me telling Caleb what my aptitude results were, I'm not surprised she gave Eric the information to pass on to you," says Tris.

It shouldn't surprise me to that Tris thought it was _**I**_ who told Aunt Jeanine her aptitude results. I was within earshot and at the time, I was her object of suspicion.

"As educated as your guess was, Beatrice," says Aunt Jeanine, looking slightly impressed, "however, you are only partially correct. Yes, Eric passed me the information, but my niece wasn't the one who supplied the information to him. As much as I would have liked it if she did, I had her on another assignment."

"Then who…" Tris croaks, disbelief on her features. "Who gave Eric my aptitude test results?"

Eric scoffs. Is Tris that thick to believe her brother will not betray her? I'm sure there were only three people who knew her aptitude results: Tori (who I heard administered her aptitude test), Tobias, and Caleb.

"All in good time," says Aunt Jeanine. "From your results I have determined that you are one of the strongest Divergent, which I say not to compliment you but to explain my purpose. If I am to develop a simulation that cannot be thwarted by the Divergent mind, I must study the strongest Divergent mind in order to shore up all weaknesses in the technology. Understand?"

Tris just stares at the heart monitor by the table.

"Therefore, for as long as possible, my fellow scientists and I will be studying you." Aunt Jeanine gives her a small, cold smile. "And then, at the conclusion of my study, you will be executed. The execution will take place here." Aunt Jeanine runs her fingertips over the metal table. "On this table. I thought it would be interesting to show it to you."

We all watch for Tris's response. She just looks placid.

"I knew what would happen when I came here," says Tris. "It's just a table. And I'd like to go back to my room now."

* * *

The signs of morning are already starting to show and in the cafeteria to get coffee, Eric and I see Caleb rubbing his eyes. He looks up at us. His eyes are red and bloodshot.

"Regret your decision, Stiff?" I hear Eric tell him.

"You don't understand," says Caleb.

"Understand what? Why you betrayed your own sister just to get information," says Eric.

"I don't want Tris to know it was me," says Caleb weakly.

"And you think Jeanine's going to keep that a secret?" Eric demands before we hear a screeching on the tile floor.

It's Peter. "Come, there's something I need to tell you!"

He grabs both our sleeves, leads us out the cafeteria, and takes us to an empty classroom down the hall.

"What was that for, Peter?" I demand.

"Listen, if her brother is not going to do anything, we have to do something," says Peter.

"How are you going to save her without Jeanine knowing?" asks Eric. "I'm intelligent as well, but it would be hard work to go around Jeanine."

"She may be a walking talking computer but she wouldn't know if I dyed the paralytic serum purple to look like the death serum," Peter whispers.

Was that the reason why Peter asked what would happen if the paralytic serum was dyed to match the death serum.

"That's very interesting, coming from a boy that tried throwing her off the chasm to secure first ranking in Dauntless initiation," says Eric. "Your serum dying tactic is clever, but how are they going to know that she is not dead?"

"I got my sources," says Peter. "Besides, I got a debt to pay. I trust you two to keep this a secret."

Peter goes to the door, checks to see if anybody is out there before turning to us and says, "If you are wondering why I'm clueing you in, I won't be surprised if Four does anything stupid."

With that Peter leaves the room.

* * *

At eleven thirty, Eric and I found out that Peter was right, because Tobias came into Erudite headquarters and started a ruckus with the Dauntless in the library. We knew this because we walked in upon seeing Tobias bleeding from the side of his face, struggling against three Dauntless.

"Stop. We'll take it from here," orders Eric. Tobias doesn't even fight when Eric yanks his elbow and puts the gun barrel to the back of Tobias's skull. I take Tobias's other elbow and take him down the corridor to the elevator.

The elevator door opens to the floor where the cellblocks are and when we enter the corridor in which Tris is held, we see Tris walk the corridor with Peter, only for her to stop when she sees Tobias held by Eric and me.

As if upon instinct, Peter's hands clamp on Tris's shoulders.

"Tobias," she gasps.

Eric presses Tobias towards her. Peter tries to do the same with Tris, but her shoes remain planted to the ground.

She mumbles something when he is within a few feet from him. As we pass them, Tobias stretches out his hand and wraps it around her palm before holding it. He then let's her hand go.

"What did you do?" she growls. Tris throws herself towards him, fighting Peter's hold. "What did you do?" she repeats screaming.

"You die, I die too," he tells her over his shoulder. "I asked you not to do this. You made your decision. These are the repercussions."

We take him around the corner, and Eric presses the numbers on the keypad and the door slides open.

"I'm surprised you haven't tried punching my teeth out," says Eric, smirking.

Tobias doesn't answer. He just glares at Eric.

"Someone has obviously gotten an award for idiot of the year," says Eric before pushing Tobias into the cell and pressing the door shut.

* * *

For lunch, Eric and I take Peter to my old home and we decide to meet in Theodore's old room.

"Let me guess, you knew that Four was going to do something stupid," says Eric.

"Four would do anything in my opinion," says Peter.

"I guess it's the right time to assume that you want us to free Tobias when the time comes to fake Tris's death," says Eric.

"Yes," says Peter. "We have to leave when we get them out. I'm going to dye the paralytic serum purple and switch it with the death serum and I'm going to get Erudite help with the heart monitor, that way they think she is dead."

"Are you sure your results weren't Erudite?" I ask him. "Because this is genius."

"This is something that her brother should be doing," says Eric. "If he cares for her sister as he claims, he wouldn't have betrayed her aptitude results and used a simulation as means to get her here."

"I thought you took 'Faction before Blood' seriously," says Peter incredulously.

"The system is bound to collapse," says Eric. "Its days were numbered when Jeanine orchestrated the simulated attack against the Abnegation. Also, I don't see how it's logical to betray someone who crawled out of the womb of the same woman."

"I see your point," says Peter.

Thing is, with the way things are going, it will be a matter of time before someone defecting from the Erudite faction will leak that Edith Prior/Amanda Ritter file.

"This gives us our excuse to leave," Eric whispers to me.

When Peter leaves I tell Eric, "Should we inform Caleb about this?"

"No. What good would it be if he snitches on us?" says Eric.

* * *

At eight twenty in the evening I follow Eric as he presses the series of buttons on the keypad next to the door that leads into Tobias's cell and the door slides open. Aunt Jeanine wants to know the location of the factionless safe houses.

"Come to taunt me?" Tobias demands, standing from the mattress.

"Let's go, Stiff," says Eric, irritated.

Tobias leaves his cell.

"How long has it been since you called me a 'Stiff'? Like two years?" Tobias asked Eric.

"I called you other insults too," says Eric.

"And you would look through a thesaurus to use them on me," Tobias spits out.

I roll my eyes and mutter, "Shut up, you two. You're eighteen year old men, not five year old boys."

They both stop talking.

We pass through the serum research room and enter the room where Tris will be executed. In there is Aunt Jeanine, two Erudite scientists and four Dauntless.

"Set him on the table," says Aunt Jeanine briskly. Tobias turns and swings a punch at Eric. He dodges the punch and punches Tobias in the eye. Tobias struggles out of Eric's hold only for two of the Dauntless in the room to lurch forward and start beating him.

"Enough," snaps Aunt Jeanine and the two Dauntless soldiers set him on the table and strap him to it. "Now, Mr. Eaton, we need to know where the factionless safe houses are."

He spits in her face. Aunt Jeanine glowers before wiping the saliva off her face.

"We'll see if this persuades you," she says coldly. She takes out a syringe containing a grey-tinted liquid and says, "Fear is more powerful than pain. You might be able to tell us something after giving you a dose of fear."

"Like that will work on him," Eric scoffs.

"It doesn't hurt to try," says Aunt Jeanine before she sticks the needle in Tobias's neck.

We don't see what Tobias is reacting to. We do know that he is keeping his breathing even, trying not to be scared. His heartbeat is even steady. After ten minutes, Aunt Jeanine releases him from the simulation.

"Get him out of here," says Aunt Jeanine bored. She pauses before saying. "Take him to the next room and bring him in here after we bring in Beatrice Prior."

"No," says Tobias weakly.

"We need to get the information out of you somehow, Mr. Eaton," says Aunt Jeanine coldly before paging Peter.

Two Dauntless drag Tobias out of the room and we stand and wait for Peter to come. Five minutes later, he enters with Tris. Tris looks at the table and I thought I hear her teeth chatter.

"Get her on the table," Aunt Jeanine orders, sounding bored. Peter's hands clamp around her arms and she struggles against his grasp but Peter lifts her up and slams her back against the table. When she flings a fist at Peter's wrist, two of the Dauntless in the room rush forward to restrain her. I see Tris crane her head to look at Eric, her eyes expectant and she looks somewhat surprised.

I look over to Eric. He looks like he's deep in thought but I thought I catch subtle pity in his eyes. What was she expecting from him that she didn't see? Then it hits me. She was expecting him to cruelly smirk at her. She doesn't know the Eric I know.

The Dauntless and Peter withdraw from her.

"What the hell is going on," she demands, as she cranes her head to look at my aunt. "We agreed – cooperation in exchange for results! We _agreed _–"

"This is entirely separate from our agreement," says Aunt Jeanine coldly. "This is not about you, Beatrice."

As if on cue, the door opens and Tobias limps in, flanked by two Dauntless. He looks at Tris and says, "Tris." He lurches forward but he is restrained. "Tris, are you okay?"

"Yeah," she says. "Are you?"

He nods. It's obvious he is not okay.

Aunt Jeanine stands up, holding a syringe with the serum and says, "In a few seconds, Mr. Eaton, I will inject Beatrice with this liquid. At that point, I trust, your selfless instincts will take over and you will tell me exactly what I need to know."

"What does she need to know?" Tris asks Tobias.

"Information about the factionless safe houses," says Tobias.

I see Tris' eyes become the size of saucers and she has a horror-struck look on her face.

"Don't give it to her. I'm going to die anyway. Don't give her anything," says Tobias.

"Remind me, Mr. Eaton," says Aunt Jeanine. "What do Dauntless simulations do?"

"This isn't a classroom," he replies through gritted teeth. "Tell me what you're going to."

"I will answer if you answer my very simple question."

Tobias relents and tells her what he knows and Aunt Jeanine explains about the old version of the serums.

"Fear," Aunt Jeanine repeats, "is more powerful than pain. So is there anything you'd like to say, before I inject Ms. Prior?"

Tobias presses his lips together and Aunt Jeanine inserts the needle.

Just then Tris's heartbeat picks up and she screams. Sweat runs down her skin and after five minutes of deep breathing and screaming, Tobias screams, "Alright, I'll tell you."

"Sedative," says Aunt Jeanine sternly and one of the Erudite inserts another needle in Tris's neck.

"Let me go," says Tobias, his voice scratchy. "That's the only way I'll tell you, is if you let me go."

Aunt Jeanine nods and Tobias runs to Tris, trying to embrace her. He says something, while quiet; I can hear the word "Factionless," and "maps." He leaves the room with the two Dauntless. Aunt Jeanine looks triumphant.

"While you're here…" she tells Tris when Tobias is out of the room. She turns to Eric and says, "Eric, get him and bring him in here. It's time."

Eric nods, walks out of the room, and Aunt Jeanine turns back to Tris.

"While you sleep, we will be performing a short procedure to observe a few things about your brain. It will not be invasive. But before that…I promised you full transparency with these procedures. So I feel it's only fair that you know who, along with Eric and Isobel, has been assisting me in my endeavors." I thought I see her smile a little. "Who told Eric, who relayed to me, what three factions you had aptitude for, and who told us what our best chance was to get you to come here, and to put your mother in the last simulation to make it more effective."

Aunt Jeanine looks toward the doorway just as Eric walks in, with a confused Caleb behind him and Eric moves out of the way so Tris could see Caleb. Tris, obviously in a sedative haze, looks up as she sees Caleb.

"What happened?" asks Caleb, seeing her distressed state. When he said that Tris was already unconscious.

"Well, she wanted to know how we knew her aptitude results," says Aunt Jeanine as the two Erudite scientists began examining Tris.

"You promised that you would not tell her the source of the information," says Caleb dejectedly. "You promised that you would not tell her about my idea for the testing simulation and the method to bring her here."

Eric snorts.

"Your sister was too curious to know why," says Aunt Jeanine coldly.

"You didn't answer my question, Ms. Matthews: What happened to Tris?" asks Caleb.

"We had to get information out of Mr. Tobias Eaton somehow," says Aunt Jeanine.

"Torturing my sister was not part of our agreement," says Caleb sharply. The look of being betrayed is obvious on his face.

"Mr. Prior, you do realize that I have authority here, do you?" asks Aunt Jeanine in a dangerously low voice. "Challenge me again and you'll regret it. Understand?"

Caleb nods stiffly and Aunt Jeanine says, "Good. I expect better out of one of my favorite pupils."


	28. Chapter Twenty Eight

The next morning, the cast was taken off my leg since the salve they provided helped heal my wound.

Caleb was nowhere to be found in Erudite headquarters this morning. Probably sulking somewhere, as that is what Eric thinks.

Passing by one of the small observatories, I see Peter on the phone talking to someone.

"Uh huh, yes, Cara, I'm listening," says Peter, using his shoulder to keep the phone against his ear as he's writing something down. Among the taskforce that Aunt Jeanine sent to Candor, there were five Erudite that joined to make an observation. Cara betrayed the Erudite by rallying the loyal Dauntless. Eric isn't upset about it as Aunt Jeanine is though, which tells me something but I don't know what.

I walk pass the room where Peter is at and enter the control room. The control room in Erudite headquarters differs from the one in Dauntless. Three men in blue suits type in computers and look at the screens above them. In one screen, it shows Tobias pacing in his cell and in another Tris is sleeping on the mattress on her cell. It's ten thirty in the morning.

That sedative drug must have been too strong in her system.

I leave the control room and head to the cafeteria, where I pick out orange juice and a PB&amp;J sandwich.

* * *

As I approach the glass window that looks into Tobias's cell, I see him hunched over, an agonized expression on his face. I saunter to the metal door and press my fingers against the numbers on the keypad. The door slides open and at the sight of me Tobias slouches slightly.

Who was he expecting? Eric?

"Oh, it is just you," says Tobias weakly.

"Hungry?" I ask him.

He shakes his head 'no'. I'm not Candor, but I tell he's not telling the truth.

I set the juice and sandwich in front of him. "Eat it. The Erudite don't like hungry test subjects."

As I turn to leave I feel someone grab my shoulders and Tobias slams me against the metal wall. I feel a stab of pain against my shoulder.

"I'm not one _your_ test subjects," he says through gritted teeth. "If you were a true Dauntless, you wouldn't –"

"Wouldn't what? Are you calling me a coward?" I ask.

He doesn't answer and I shrug him off of me.

"I got things to do," I say before exiting the room and closing the door.

* * *

I walk towards Millennium Park, where I see Caleb hunched over by the giant lima bean. I approach him, to see what the matter with him was.

He looks up when I see him.

"What are you doing here in this weather without a jacket?" I ask him.

"It's not that cold," he says.

"It's forty degrees out," I say.

He just looks down. I sit next to him.

"I just don't understand, why Jeanine would do that," he says. "She promised me that she would not tell Tris the source of the information."

"Since you're sister showed aptitude to Erudite, you should have realized that she would have been curious, and my aunt feeds curiosity," I say. "Also, you think you know my aunt but you really don't. I have been around her even when I was a toddler. You only have known her for the past month. If something happens or if you disagree with her plans, she'll go back on her promises."

Caleb doesn't say anything.

"I want to ask you a question: do you want your sister to die?" I ask.

"I don't but…" he begins.

"But what?" I demand.

"Every plan I think of, I know Jeanine will find out," says Caleb weakly. "I don't want Tris dead. Thing is, every strategy I think of to help Tris, it ends with the same thing: Jeanine finds out."

"That's strange coming from someone that sucks up to my aunt," I say bitterly.

"I used to, but I'm not so sure," he says.

"Trust me, your lack of creativity to help your own sister is cowardly, but the positive thing is that you're not inherently evil," I say.

I turn to leave when Caleb asks, "Isobel, did Tris see me before she blacked out?"

"Unfortunately, yes," I say, "and I doubt that she would be as understanding as I am."

Tris may have Erudite in her, but she is mostly Dauntless. I admit it, I would be upset if my own brother betrayed me, but it doesn't hurt to step inside someone's head. Tris thinks she knows Aunt Jeanine. Inside and out.

She knows that Aunt Jeanine does terrible things, but Tris has never been around her to be exposed by my aunt's poisonous weed of manipulation and persuasion.

* * *

By the next day, Eric and I have already laid out our plans for when we leave the fence: Amity has agreed to have someone drive us a little ways outside the farm. They have promised that they would not inform the Erudite. Johanna Reyes calls us crazy for leaving past the Amity farms, but she cooperated.

Since she is representative of Amity, she probably knows about the fact that we are in a experiment. By noon, Eric and I file into one of the testing rooms where Tris is waiting, sitting next to Peter. Her eyes are closed, suggesting that she is asleep.

"Beatrice?" asks Caleb curiously as he walks in. She rouses, looks around her surroundings before her eyes find Caleb. The way Tris looks at him suggests that it will not be pretty. He stands a few feet away from her, his posture uncertain.

"Did you everleave Erudite?" she demands.

"It's not that simple," he starts. "I –"

"It _is_ that simple," she says flatly. What gives her the right to think it is simple when she can't get a grasp on how my aunt fully operates? It's not simple to defect from my aunt because if it was, Eric and I wouldn't be sneaking around in my house planning to go beyond Amity's farms. "At what point did you betray our family. Before our parents died, or after?"

"I did what I had to do. You think you understand this, Beatrice, but you don't. This whole situation…it's much bigger than you think it is." His eyes plead for her to understand but he sounds condescending. I wonder if he's choosing his words carefully because he knows this room could be under heavily surveillance. This is a testing room after all.

She pushes herself to her feet. Her expression is cold. Unforgiving. "You still haven't answered my question," she says.

Caleb steps back.

"This isn't about Erudite; it's about everyone. All the factions," he says, "and the city. And what's outside the fence."

"I don't care," she says but her eyes are asking questions. "I thought you were all about facts. About freedom of information? Well, how about _this _fact, Caleb? When –" her voice quakes. "_When _did you betray our parents?"

Eric rolls his eyes.

"You do realize that you are in a room under heavy surveillance," Eric says, agitated.

"You stay out of this," Tris demands to Eric before turning her cold gaze to Caleb. What Eric was saying, _Your brother is not answering the question you are asking because Jeanine would use that against him_.

"I have always been Erudite," he says softly. "Even when I was supposed to be Abnegation."

"If you're with Jeanine, then I hate you," she says, her face red. "Just like our father would have."

"You do realize that _hate _is a strong word," says Eric. "There's faction before blood, but I think he would have been more disappointed."

"Shut up! You didn't know my father!" exclaims Tris before looking at Caleb.

"Yes but I doubt a man would hate the child he fathered," Eric muttered quietly. Tris doesn't hear him.

Caleb ignores us. "Our father _was _Erudite, Beatrice. Jeanine told me – he was in her year at school."

Tris would easily see this as betrayal when it was obvious that my aunt supplied him with the information during Erudite initiation. Of course my aunt would tell him before the attack on Abnegation. Before he agreed to betray his sister.

"He wasn't Erudite," Tris says a few seconds later, her voice shaking with anger. "He chose to leave them. He chose a different identity, just like you, and became something else. Only you chose this…this _evil_."

I just tune out their conversation, frustrated. Does Tris realize that Caleb is probably choosing his words carefully, because testing rooms are the most heavily monitored rooms in Erudite headquarters.

After Tris sits down, Caleb goes and stands by one of the screens with Eric and me.

I look at him and say, "She's not going to understand, is she?"

Caleb shakes his head and slumps back.

A few minutes later, Aunt Jeanine, a few Erudite scientists, and a few Dauntless enter the room.

"Let us view the results, shall we?" she announces. I touch a button and one of the screens comes on, showing the data modules of the brain.

She goes on about mirror neurons, asking the scientists questions like a teacher would to students. Ten minutes later, when Tris closes her eyes, they inject the serum in Tris and connect her to wires.

The screen changes. A heavily bleeding Tobias shakes Tris awake and the simulation shows them escaping with obstacles. At the end Tris realizes that she is under simulation and says, "You'll have to do better than that, Jeanine."

"Shut off the simulation!" she orders. Eric turns off the screen and Aunt Jeanine screams in frustration when Tris rouses.

"What is it?" Aunt Jeanine demands. She grabs Peter's gun and stalks across the room, pressing the barrel to Tris's forehead. "What is it that clues you in? Tell me. Tell me or I will kill you."

Caleb doesn't move and he gives his sister a pleading look, like he is asking her not to be stupid. Tris doesn't see him and she slowly pushes herself from the chair.

"You think I'm going to tell you?" she says. "You think I believe that you will kill me without figuring out the answer to this question."

"You stupid girl," answers Aunt Jeanine. "You think this is about you, and your abnormal brain? This is not about you. It is not about me. It is about keeping this city safe from the people who intend to plunge it into hell!"

Without warning, Tris launches herself at Aunt Jeanine. Caleb moves forward but I end up elbowing him hard in the nose, knocking him to the wall behind him and I drag him out of the room. I hear my aunt scream at the top of her lungs before someone punches her hard in the face.

* * *

"I couldn't afford to have you do something stupid," I tell Caleb, giving him something for his nose. "It wouldn't be pretty if your sister punched you."

"That was the stupid thing I didn't want her to do," says Caleb. "Attack Jeanine and get herself killed."

"She'll think that you were protecting my aunt, not her," I say as Eric walks into the room.

"I don't understand why Tris didn't realize why I couldn't answer her question," says Caleb. "I wanted to but as your boyfriend said, the room was under heavy surveillance."

"Abnegation, Dauntless, and Erudite are a combination that makes someone bullheaded in my opinion," says Eric. "I'm not a Stiff, and I'm glad that I didn't become one but selflessness should also apply to thinking about what other people might be thinking."

"Once the shock of betrayal clears, she'll come around, though it might take a while," I say.

"Probably for a month, since she's bullheaded," says Eric. "From my observation, Stiffs who join Dauntless end up being bullheaded."

Peter enters the room.

"They are changing the time and day of Tris's execution," says Peter.

"When?" asks Caleb, his voice hoarse.

"Tomorrow morning at eight," says Peter.

"I need to go outside," says Caleb.

In other words, Eric and I will have to go pass the Amity farms _tomorrow_.

* * *

Instead of having dinner in Erudite headquarters, I decided to have dinner at my house. If Theodore and I were still dependents, today would have been left-over day. I reheat spaghetti that mom must have cooked while she places double-coated chicken on a serving platter. She always used cornflakes for the outer coat.

The front door opens and I hear Aunt Jeanine talking.

"The girl's too unpredictable, William," says Aunt Jeanine. "I shall focus my attention on Tobias Eaton after her execution."

I leave the kitchen, mom following and when we reach the main hallway, I hear mom gasp.

It's obvious why Aunt Jeanine put heavy make-up on her face, as you could see the red outlines of fingernail scratch marks.

"What happened to your face, Jeanine?" mom asks.

"It's nothing," says Aunt Jeanine briskly. "Hopefully everything is prepared."

"Yes, just one more thing," she says before returning to the kitchen.

Aunt Jeanine moves away from the door and puts her blue overcoat on the hook.

"Eric still at headquarters?" I ask.

"He offered to help prepare for Beatrice's execution," says Aunt Jeanine. "I trust him."

_Maybe she shouldn't_, I think before I hear the beep of the microwave. I turn towards the kitchen.

"One of Isobel's favorite dishes is being served tonight and she reheats the dish that her mother made last night," I hear dad tell Aunt Jeanine as I use wash cloths to take the plate out before I took out a small bottle containing a fizzy drink.

"William, old habits are hard to die off when you're in your place of birth," says Aunt Jeanine. "If I remember, this was supposed to be a night for Isobel and Theodore to eat leftovers if they didn't like the meal that was served."

I take a sip of the lemon flavored fizzy drink. It has been a few weeks since I drank soda. Now, the acid bite feels stronger then it was. Probably because I haven't drank soda since I transferred to Dauntless.

I sit at the kitchen table and eat the spaghetti, my mind preoccupied by what Eric and I will find outside the farms of Amity tomorrow.


	29. Chapter Twenty Nine

**I know that some of you didn't like the experiment scenario that was revealed in **_**Allegiant**_**, but I like to go mostly with canon.**

* * *

The next morning, at seven forty eight, I shut down the trash incinerator for twenty-four hours before hiding our backpacks behind garbage cans. They feel light, containing ten articles of clothing and a book in each.

As part of our save Tris from execution plan, Eric and I stand outside Tobias's cell, saying nothing.

Minutes after eight, Peter runs into view, pushing the metal table. He stops in front of us, and picks up Tris.

"For someone so skinny, you're _heavy_, Stiff," Peter says to her before looking at us and whispers, "Hurry!"

"On it," I say, dialing the cell combination and the door slides open.

"What do –" Tobias begins to demand before seeing a paralyzed Tris. "Oh my God. Oh –"

"Spare me your blubbering, okay?" Peter tells him. "She's not dead; she's just paralyzed. I'll only last for about a minute. Now get ready to run."

"Let me carry her," says Tobias.

"No. You're a better shot then I am," says Peter. "Take my gun. I'll carry her." He looks at Eric and me and says, "You two watch our backs."

Tobias doesn't even argue. Probably because we don't have time for it. Peter hands him one of his guns and we all start running.

Our feet pound on the tile floor as we run after them. "Left!" I shout at Tobias.

Down from the hallway I hear someone shout, "Hey, what – !"

I turn and shoot at the Dauntless traitor before we run.

"Right!" Peter shouts to Tobias. When we get to the garbage facility, Peter opens the door.

"Careful!" says Tris. Peter turns and sideways to bring Tris in and after everyone is inside the room, I hear the door close and I retrieve the two backpacks from their hiding places.

"I hate to ruin the moment but now is not the time to be mushy," I hear Eric say. I'm guessing he's talking to Tris and Tobias.

"Where are we?" Tris asks, slowly standing up.

"This is the trash incinerator," says Peter, slapping the metal door. "Isobel turned it off. It'll take us to the alley. Your aims better be perfect, if you want to get out of the Erudite sector alive."

Peter pushes open the door. "Tris, you first."

Tris looks down at the trash chute and with help from Tobias, she jumps down.

"Ow," we hear her say faintly before she shouts up, "Go ahead!"

Peter jumps into the trash chute.

"You go," Eric tells Tobias. Tobias glares at Eric for a second before jumping into the chute. I hand Eric his backpack and when I swing both legs in the chute, I jump, landing on the cement floor. Eric drops down a second later, gritting his teeth.

We follow Peter out of the grate to a dank hallway that leads to the alleyway.

"This is where we separate from them," says Eric and when we both take the opposite direction, I hear Tobias start to shout something but I hear Peter shushing him.

Hopefully, they'll think we won't betray them but since we both have backpacks, they'll be scratching our heads as to where we are going.

* * *

By the time we get by the tracks, the train comes a minute later. Eric hoists himself in and I follow.

The train is empty with us as the only occupants.

"I'll be glad when we leave this prison," I say, sitting against the wall of the car.

"Feels like it, doesn't it?" says Eric, sitting down next to me.

I lean my head against his shoulder and say, "I wonder if my aunt used fear about what is outside the fence to coerce Caleb."

"What that bullheaded Stiff doesn't understand is that Jeanine is capable of blackmail without you knowing it," says Eric. "She thinks it would be simple for her Stiff brother to defect when it's a complex situation."

Tris is bullheaded. I know she is from Abnegation but sometimes you have to put your own safety first. Self-preservation is not the same as being selfish. I watch as the landscape changes before us and the dilapidated buildings are replaced with the yellow fields surrounding the fence.

We both jump from the train and approach the gate. I'm glad that I memorized the combination that Tobias used to get in, because the gate clicks open in the first try.

"Johanna promised to drop us off outside the outer limits of the Dauntless patrols," says Eric. "Might as well unload our guns. We don't want to appear threatening."

I concede and place the bullets in a cylinder that was provided.

* * *

"I wasn't surprised that Jeanine would leak confidential information to her close associates, but I'm surprised that two of you actually thought of leaving," says Johanna as she drove the truck.

"I don't think it's logical to be in a top secret experiment if you know you're in it," says Eric. "I always thought it was impossible for us to be on our own and having things done without interference."

"Not to mention the factions never have gone to war," I say. I never realized this until I said it. If the factions lasted for centuries without rebellion, it must have been a controlled environment. The road ahead of us is long and straight, marked with cracks and swollen patches.

I sit back, staring at my hands for how long before I feel Eric tap my shoulder. I look up to see an alien landscape.

The world beyond ours is full of roads and dark buildings and collapsing power lines.

A ghost town, with no life in it, like life was interrupted here.

The door opens and I hop out first before Eric does. One side of the landscape is empty land, grass, and stretches of road. On the other side are two concrete walls with half a dozen sets of train tracks between them. Up ahead, there is a concrete bridge built across walls, and framing the tracks are buildings, wood and brick and glass, their windows dark, trees growing around them, so wild, their branches grow together.

A worn sign on the right says _90_, with the word INTERSTATE above it. I don't know what it means but it suggests that it links different areas.

"Let's follow the tracks," says Eric.

The tracks are not like the ones in the city. They are polished and sleek, and instead of boards running perpendicular to their path, there are sheets of textured metal. Up ahead I see one of the trains that run along them – or did – abandoned near the wall. It is metal-plated on the top and front, like a mirror, with tinted windows all along the side. When we draw closer, I see rows of seats inside it with maroon cushions on them. This train must have been designed for comfortable travel, unlike the trains where Dauntless would jump in and off of them.

Eric walks behind me, keeping himself steady. We don't talk much, except to point out something that we never have heard of.

The concrete walls alone hold my attention – they are covered with strange pictures of people that look like they have been perfected on computers, or colorful bottles with shampoo or conditioner or vitamins or unfamiliar substances inside them, with words like "vodka" and "Coca-Cola" and "energy drink", that suggest that they were beverages. The second one sounds like the name of a fizzy drink.

At one point, I feel Eric put his hand to my shoulder.

"You hear that?" he asks. I strain my ears and hear an engine rumbling. Something appears around the bend up ahead. A black truck, but larger than the ones owned by Amity, large enough to hold more than a dozen people in its covered bed.

Whoever is coming expected us to come, which is creepy.

The truck bumps over the tracks and comes to a stop twenty feet away from us. The man driving it has dark skin and long hair tied in a knot at the back of his head.

"If only Four was here," Eric whispers to me. "He was grieving over nothing."

"Who's that?" I whisper.

"Amar. The former Dauntless transfer initiate instructor," says Eric. Something in his tone tells me that he knew about this since before I chose Dauntless, like he knew this person was alive.

A woman gets out of the front seat. She looks to around Johanna's age, her skin patterned with dense freckles and her brown hair is close to the shade of black.

"Hello," she says. "My name is Zoe. This is Amar."

"We noticed," says Eric.

"How did you know about us leaving the fence and going past Amity's farms?" I demand.

"We'll explain that at base," says Zoe.

Base? Has our city been under surveillance by these people?

That question lingers in my head as we step into the truck. Eric and I both stand in the truck bed, holding on to the structure that supports the canvass cover. I look out, watching as the life I knew shrunk by distance.

I wonder if Aunt Jeanine noticed that Eric and I are missing from Erudite headquarters. When she finds out that I took steps ahead of her and permanently deleted the tracking data, I'll be deemed as a traitor and so would Eric.

I wonder where Tris, Tobias, and Peter are at. Have they escaped the Erudite sector. If they did, where are they now?

I watched the landscape of interrupted life pass by before we pass through a tunnel. When we leave the tunnel, I see a different reality.

There is a tall fence stretching wide across the landscape, which looks empty. The fence has vertical black bars with pointed ends that bend outward, as if to fatally wound trespassers. A few feet past it is another fence, this one chain-linked, with barbed wire coiled over the top. People walk the space between the two fences, carrying guns that slightly resemble the paintball guns that we used for capture the flag, but they look far more lethal.

A sign on the first fence reads BUREAU OF GENETIC WELFARE.

I hear Amar speak to two of the armed guards before the truck drives forward. Beyond the fence, there are low buildings separated by trimmed grass and fledgling trees. The roads that connect them are well maintained and well-marked, with arrows pointing to various destinations: GREENHOUSES, straight ahead; SECURITY OUTPOST, left; OFFICERS' RESIDENCES, right; COMPOUND MAIN, straight ahead.

Standing on my tiptoes, I lean forward. The Bureau of Genetic Welfare isn't tall, but it's still huge, a mammoth of glass and steel and concrete. Behind the compound are a few small towers with bulges on the top. Maybe this building was made for another purpose.

Aside from the guards from the fences, there are a few people milling about outside. Two of them stop to watch us, but we are driving so fast that I don't catch their expressions.

The truck stops before a set of double doors, and I am the first to jump down before Eric does.

Zoe and Amar step out of the truck and approach us.

"Welcome to the compound," says Zoe. "This building used to be the O'Hare Airport, one of the busiest airports in the country. Now it's the headquarters of the Bureau of Genetic Welfare – or just the Bureau, as we call it around here. It's an agency to the United States government."

When Aunt Jeanine divulged about the Chicago Experiment, we knew that it was government run but she didn't mention the term "United States." Besides, what was "air travel"? Eric and I both exchange confused looks.

"Sorry," she says. "I didn't realize that you know little."

"We know enough, but some things you need to explain," says Eric.

"An airport is a hub for air travel, and –" begins Amar.

"How is that possible?" I ask.

"One of the technological developments that wasn't necessary for us to know about when we were inside the city was air travel," says Amar. "It's safe, fast, and amazing."

"We'll believe it when we see it," says Eric, like his curiosity was peaked.

Zoe goes on about the experiment or should I say experiments, saying that the airport was converted into this compound to monitor them. She and Amar were to walk us to the control room to meet a man named David, who they say, is their leader.

"Of course, we have seen that you know a lot of the information but we'll answer some questions you may have later," says Zoe. How did they know that my aunt told Eric and I that were in some experiment?

Zoe starts towards the entrance, and the doors part for her, pulled by two armed guards who smile in greeting as she passes them. If they were Dauntless, they wouldn't be smiling.

Cool air rushes over my face as I walk into the compound. Windows arch high above my head, letting in the late morning light. The tile floor is dull with dirt and age, and the walls are gray and blank. Ahead of us is a sea of people and machinery, with a sign over it that says SECURITY CHECKPOINT.

But I focus on the huge block of stone at the far end of the room supported by a glass apparatus.

People make way, forming a tunnel when we enter the checkpoint and Zoe explains that weapons are not allowed in the compound. I take out my unloaded gun and my cylinder of bullets and putting it aside, with Eric doing the same.

Beyond the security checkpoint, the facility is not as dingy as it was before. The floors are still tile, but they are polished to perfection, and there are windows everywhere. Whoever built this building probably wanted to show off what this building was originally made for.

Down one hallway I see rows of lab tables and computers. It reminds me of the Erudite headquarters, only nothing is hidden here.

Zoe leads us down a darker passage way on the right. I ignore the people passing as they watch Eric and I go by. We walk for a long time, deep into the compound, and then Zoe stops, facing Eric and I.

Behind her is a large circle of screens, all of them on. I try to see what is going on in each of them but they focus on many angles that I can't get a grasp, though I do see a glimpse of the library in Erudite headquarters. People within the circle sit at low desks, typing furiously on still more screens, these ones facing out instead of in. It's a control room but unlike in Erudite and Dauntless, it's out in the open. Clustered around the screens that face in are chairs, benches, and tables, like people gather here to watch for leisure.

A few feet in front of the control room is an older man wearing a smile and a dark blue uniform, just like all the others. When he sees us approaching, he spreads his hands as if to welcome us. So this must be David.

"Welcome," he says. "We have been expecting you."


	30. Chapter Thirty

**Honestly, I want your thoughts on this so far. Please, I need more reviews.**

* * *

So, they have been expecting us. My eyes drift to one of the screens and on one of them, I see an empty street in the Abnegation sector. On the prominent screens, I see Aunt Jeanine in Erudite headquarters.

"My name is David. As Zoe probably told you two already, I am the leader of the Bureau of Genetic Welfare. I know that you two were given information about the purpose of the city you lived in, but I'm going to do my best to tighten up some loose ends," David says. "How much did the main representative of Erudite tell you after she showed you the Edith Prior video?"

"She gave us access to a file called the _Chicago Experiment_, which explained the purpose about why the system existed," says Eric stoically.

"But it didn't mention any others," I say.

"Can one you tell me why the Purity War was the catalyst for the experiments?" asks David.

"Because the government wanted to _correct _genes, only for them to damage them, causing conflict between the population," I say.

"Exactly," says David. For a refresher, he goes on about how a few centuries ago, the government wanted desirable traits in the populace, trying to get rid of dishonesty, cowardice, low-intelligence, aggression, selfishness, all opposites of the once respective five factions.

"Take away someone's fear, or low intelligence, or dishonesty, and you take away their compassion," explains David. "Take away someone's aggression and you take away their motivation, or their ability to assert themselves. Take away their selfishness and you take away their sense of self-preservation. If you think about it, I'm sure you know exactly what I mean."

He has a point because every faction loses something when it gains a virtue. Aunt Jeanine has said that I was the smartest of my class and a frozen temper that accompanied it. I wasn't honest enough for Candor, not peaceful enough for Amity, but I don't consider myself uncompassionate.

David explains that the genetic altercations made things worse and it started the Purity War between the genetically damaged and the genetically pure, eliminating half of the country's population and he shows us visual showing the population before and after.

I look sideways at Eric. His hands are balled into fists.

"So technically the government tried to make the population one-dimensional in thinking," says Eric, stating what he knows. "From what I learned, the human mind is supposed to be the complex thing in the world, which brings the topic to Divergents."

"We know that Divergents are flexible with thinking." I state. "What are they in genetic terms?"

"A _Divergent _is someone who has reached the desired level in genetic healing," David explains. "The faction system started out in your city in order to speed up the process and later on, they were introduced in to most of our other experiments, three of which are currently active."

"You're saying that if someone is not Divergent, they are genetically damaged," says Eric.

"Geneticallydamaged, yes," says David. "However, we were surprised to discover that the behavioral modification component of our city's experiment was quite effective, but with the way things are going in the area inside the fence, that might change. So generally, you would not be able to tell whether a person's genes were damaged or healed from their behavior."

"Still, our actions reflect on our choices," I say. "Genes are not everything."

"Exactly," says Amar.

"Question: we read about experiments in particular," says Eric. "How much did you observe?"

"We have access to the cameras in the control rooms of each faction," says David.

So, they have been watching us.

* * *

I sit in one of the benches, watching the screens. For most of my life, the Bureau kept surveillance on the city without even knowing it. Nothing was private: my first steps, my first word, my first day of school, my mundane life of running my fingers over the spines of books and looking at computer screens when I was an Erudite-Dependent. They must have seen my aptitude test.

My first kiss, my first time.

Was anything sacred?

I look up at one of the screens. In an Abnegation street, I see Tobias, Tris, and Peter walk down the street. It has been six hours since Peter saved her from execution. Tris doesn't pay attention to people staring at her.

I see Uriah and Christina rush to them. Tobias tells them something but it's muted, just like the other screens.

"Can someone turn the volume on for screen fifteen?" I hear David tell someone. The sounds in the room dim and the volume is raised for one of the screens. On the screen, I see that Aunt Jeanine is with dad, Dr. Granger, and another Erudite on the top floor in Erudite headquarters.

"Where's Caleb?" Aunt Jeanine demands to someone. "He didn't go AWOL as well."

"He's somewhere in this building," says her companion.

"He better be," says Aunt Jeanine coldly. "He wasn't seen for most of the day."

"Can we get a trace on Eric Matheson and Isobel Matthews? They got the trackers in them," says Dr. Granger.

"William already checked. Someone has gotten into the Dauntless computer system and erased the software," says Aunt Jeanine. "They didn't leave a trace of it."

"Who is that good with computers?"

"It's my fault that I taught my brother's children how to completely erase traces of software from computer systems," says Aunt Jeanine. "My niece is just as smart as I am."

"The earth couldn't have just swallowed them up," says her companion. "What if they are outside the fence?"

A prickle of fear rushes through me.

"If they are outside Amity, there is nothing we can do about it," says Aunt Jeanine. "They were probably taken in by the Bureau."

"Should we contact David?" asks dad.

"They are out of our hands now, William," Aunt Jeanine snaps. "Hopefully, they're smart enough to stay there."

"How often do you keep track of my aunt?" I ask.

"24/7, ever since she declared war against Abnegation," says David. The way he says it, it's like he's not even sorry for the deaths of many innocent Abnegation. Somehow, the hairs on my back rise.

"You don't think she will try to bring Eric and I back to the city," I say.

"When George Wu came seven years ago, your aunt's predecessor, Norton, wanted us to hand him over to him" says David. "We told him if we did, we would do a memory reset on everyone in the city, regardless of status."

I vaguely remember Norton. I was ten when he had cardiac arrest. When Erudite was under him, the year before an aptitude test, every fifteen year old in Erudite had to take what they called a _Pre_-Aptitude Test, as a way to sniff out Divergents. Before he died, he wanted every faction to carry out Pre-Aptitude Tests. When he died, Aunt Jeanine replaced it with a IQ test. She thought that the Pre-Aptitude Test was preposterous as someone's thought processes could change over one year.

You could say that Norton and Aunt Jeanine are two different types of evil.

* * *

Next to the Bureau, is what used to be a hotel next to the former airport. The walls in the corridor are yellowed with age peeling at the corners. The first floor of rooms is temporary housing until we decide what to do.

They even provided us clothing, despite the fact that we took some clothing with us.

I'm nervous what the test will say. Since I cut close to being a Divergent, I wonder: are most of my genes healed or are half of them healed. I shouldn't let this bother me. If I'm genetically damaged, it won't change who I am.

The temporary "apartment" we are assigned has a sitting room, a bedroom with two twin size beds and a bathroom. Oddly enough in the sitting room is a sink on an empty counter and cabinets with empty sockets, like some kitchen appliances were taken out. The carpet looks frayed. It was probably high end once. It seems that the bedcovers were replaced, probably for those leaving the experiments and entering the Bureau.

I take a shower, thoroughly cleaning myself before putting on a pair of pajamas.

"You're quiet," Eric tells me as I shuffle into the sitting room.

"I think it's because of tomorrow," I say, slumping into the sofa. "What are my genes going say about me?"

I know I shouldn't be asking this if I don't think my genetics will change the way I am, but I need his opinion.

"Genetics won't change anything," says Eric, sitting next to me.

"What do you think you're genetic test will say?" I ask out of curiosity.

"I am not going to let that worry me," says Eric. "If Four wasn't a Divergent and they tested his genes, he'll think he was _damaged_."

Coming from an abusive home, Four probably has some self-esteem issues. If he was told that he was "Genetically Damaged" his self-esteem might go down a few points.

* * *

That night, Eric and I sleep on one of the beds, encasing each other in our warmth. For a moment, I look out the window of the room, seeing the fence surrounding the Bureau. I think of the city where we came from. At this time in the factions, everyone is asleep, most not knowing what is beyond the Amity farms. It's impossible for a population to be alone without interference.

I let that sink in before drifting back to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, I wake up, feeling like the contents of my stomach might explode. I fast walk to the bathroom next to the bedroom and I just kneel before the toilet when I vomit.

When I'm done retching, I wipe my eyes and flush the toilet.

I don't know what made me nauseous. Probably the change in environment.

"Are you okay in there?" Eric asks me from the next room.

"I guess this change in environment is taking an effect on my body," I say.

I change into my black pants, plum colored shirt, and one of the blue Erudite blazers that I owned.

The cafeteria is on the main floor of the compound and to get there, we followed the employees of the Bureau who were on their way to breakfast.

I pick a lemon poppy seed muffin. My appetite is small this morning. It will probably return to normal when I get used to being here. Sitting across from Eric and I are Amar and George Wu.

"Are you still a know-it-all?" Amar asks Eric.

"Know-it-all? I thought you remember me as the initiate who beat the Amity transfer unconscious during the first day of the fights," says Eric.

"Still, when you entered the Dauntless compound, it was like you knew a thing or two about combat," says Amar.

"You get that with Erudite-born Dauntless most of the time," says George. "Tori and I would read up on self-defense before our aptitude test."

"You two were from Erudite?" I ask him, splitting my muffin in half.

"Yes," says George. "Erudite was good but Dauntless was better."

Amar slaps him on the back, grinning.

A man, probably around Eric's age, with black, tousled hair, approaches our table.

"You must be Eric and Isobel," says the man.

"Yes," I say.

"My name is Matthew," he says, outstretching his hand. We both take turns shaking it. "I will be reading your genetic results and explain a few things to you."

He led us from the cafeteria.

"There have been anomalies among those from your city," says Matthew, as he leads us corridors. "You and Tobias Eaton are different types of anomaly."

"Different types," I repeat.

"If Tobias was here, I would like to test his genes," says Matthew. "Simulation awareness doesn't necessarily mean that you are Divergent. Those with genetic damage could be aware during simulations."

The corridors that Matthew leads us through have open areas that branch off the major hallways, each marked with a letter and a number, and in these open areas, it looks as if people are testing liquids and such, like in Erudite.

"If the one parent was a Divergent and the other one wasn't, they would get that result," Eric theorizes.

"It depends. There are cases where if they have two children, one could be Divergent and the other one not," says Matthew, "or both children could turn out Divergent."

"Let's say the father was born in Erudite and the mother was born in Dauntless. They chose Abnegation, get married and have a son and a daughter," I say. "One of the children could choose Erudite and the other Dauntless."

"You just summarized the Prior family," says Matthew, "though Natalie was not born in Dauntless."

Then where was she born?

Matthew scans his card at a heavy door on our left, and we walk down another hallway, this one narrow and lit with pale, fluorescent light. He stops at a door marked GENE THERAPY ROOM 1. Inside, a girl with light brown skin and a green jumpsuit is replacing the paper that covers the exam table.

"This is Juanita, the lab technician. Juanita, this is –"

"Yeah, I know who they are," she says, smiling. I tense. So the knowledge of our existence hasn't been restricted to David and those in the control room here?

The girl offers her hand first to Eric, then to me. I don't know her but there is something about her that I do not like. "Matthew's supervisor is the only person who calls me Juanita. Except Matthew, apparently. I'm Nita. You'll need two tests prepared?"

Matthew nods.

She goes across the room and opens a set of cabinets before she starts taking some things out. All of them are wrapped in plastic and paper, and have white labels. The room is full of the sound of crinkling and ripping.

"How have you guys like it so far?" she asks us.

"We're trying to adjust to the new environment," I say.

"I know what you mean," she says. "I came from one of the other experiments – the one in Indianapolis, the one that failed. Oh, you don't know what Indianapolis is, do you? It's not far from here. Less than an hour by plane. That won't mean anything to you either. You know what? It's not important."

"Looks like you keep these experiments in a certain area," says Eric as Nita takes a syringe and needle from the plastic wrapping.

"The Bureau located them in the Midwest because there's more space between the urban areas," says Matthew. "Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Minneapolis, and Detroit. Indianapolis was a control group, and that one failed."

"Not as stable as the faction system, I take it," I conclude.

"You can put it that way," says Matthew. Nita hands me a filled syringe and needle.

"Can you explain to us how this works?" asks Eric curiously.

"The fluid is packed with microcomputers. They are designed to detect specific genetic markers and transmit the data to the computer," says Matthew. "It will take them about an hour to give me as much information as I need, though it will take them much longer to read all your genetic material, obviously."

Nita brushes my arm with an antiseptic wipe and I stick the needle in my arm before pressing the plunger.

"What are you looking for?" I ask as Nita wipes Eric's arm with a antiseptic wipe before handing him the needle and syringe.

"Simulation awareness, simulation manipulation, and 'healed' genes," says Matthew. "I say that you and Tobias were both anomalies and I didn't get to you. What's strange about you is that you are aware you're in a simulation but you can't manipulate it either, like a full Divergent would. That is something we find in those that cut close to Divergents or Near-Divergents as we call them here. Either they are flexible in thinking and don't have simulation awareness or they have flexible thinking, simulation awareness, and can't manipulate the simulations. Sometimes they have even half of healed and damaged genes. Only a handful in your city have that anomaly and three of them are descended from Edith Prior."

"How is Near-Divergence an anomaly?" I ask curiously.

"It's something new that the Bureau discovered ten years ago," says Matthew. "A Dauntless-born was aware he was in a simulation but he couldn't manipulate the outcome. With Near-Divergents, there is some genetic damage but not enough to affect behavior. I would like to see if you are simulation aware and flexible in thinking and you can't manipulate the simulation or you are flexible in thinking and you are not simulation aware."

I was aware during stage two of Dauntless initiation but I couldn't manipulate the situation to my will, like a full Divergent would. When Aunt Jeanine tested the simulation serum on me for twenty minutes, I relapsed in and out four times.

"All that's left is to sit and wait," says Matthew. "I'm going to go get breakfast. I'll be back soon. Nita, keep them company, would you?"

Matthew leaves and I stand with Eric, pressing the cotton ball to the injection sight.

* * *

Matthew returns right at the hour mark, and he sits at the computer for a long time after that, his eyes flicking back and forth as he reads the screen. My fingernails dig into my palms in apprehension. Finally he looks up and turns the screen around so we can see what's on it.

"This program helps us interpret the data in an understandable way. What you see here is a simplified depiction of a particular DNA sequence in Isobel's genetic material," he says.

The picture on the screen is a complicated mass of lines and numbers, though a few lines are tangled, with certain parts selected in yellow and red. This reminds me of the data collection in the Erudite computers.

"This is a peculiar anomaly. Just as I suspected," he says. "These selections here are peculiar because while half of the genes are healed, half of them are not. As for the simulations, however, this is the bizarre part. She's aware she's in a simulation but she can't control the outcome like a full Divergent would."

"Do you have a term for those with a mixture of healed and damaged genes?" I ask. "Aside from Near-Divergent?"

"Genetically neutral," says Matthew. "Or GN as they call it here. They say those with genetic neutrality are not as unpredictable as the genetically damaged. Their thinking is flexible enough."

He touches the screen again and the screen looks like mine, only there are no tangled lines.

"This is a map of Eric's genes," Matthew says. "This selection here suggests healed genes. We can't tell if they are damaged. He also as the correct genetic combination for simulation awareness and control."

I know what that means.

He's Divergent. And Aunt Jeanine enlisted him to help her hunt down Divergent "rebels" in Dauntless.

I feel my throat grow dry and the blood rushes to my face. He helped hunt down Divergents while he was one himself. I never liked the fact that he hunted down Divergents but to learn that he was one himself makes the whole thing even more terrible.

The hypocrisy of it astounds me.

Matthew says something but I don't hear it and soon he closes the door leaving me with Eric and Nita.

"You're Divergent?" I ask him, the blood rushing to my face. I want to see things logically but somehow my brain can't process logistics.

Right now my emotions are taking over.

"My results were Dauntless and Erudite," says Eric. Nita is straightening the containers though they haven't been touched. I think that she wants to overhear our conversation and I don't like it. "The person who administered my test reported my test as Dauntless, because Erudite would have been ruled out if I didn't use logical thinking in the aptitude test."

"And Aunt Jeanine pulled strings to make you Dauntless leader so you could hunt down Divergents, while you were one yourself?" I demand, my voice shaking with anger.

"Let me explain," he says.

"Explain what? How a hypocrite you were for accepting her assignment?" I ask and with that, I barge from the room.

* * *

**I hope I kept Amar in-character.**


	31. Chapter Thirty One

**I always thought that Eric was a Divergent himself, because of how he would see signs of it during stage one of Dauntless initiation. So it would give the whole "Erudite in Dauntless clothing" a new meaning. On the other hand, I think Jeanine also wanted a Divergent to help her hunt down other Divergents, because that person would know what to look for.**

* * *

I pass through the hallways, ignoring the people passing by and I find myself walking through the hotel hallway. I find my feet walking toward a room I have never been in before. A large room with high ceilings and wooden floors. There are large windows with elegant curtains.

I step closer to one of the windows and sit by it. I notice that the curtains are frayed by age.

I sit by the window, letting my emotions simmer.

When I heard that Eric was a Divergent, I met the news with anger. It seems that I barging away took twenty percent of my anger. I'm mad that he hunted down Divergents while he was one.

However, whatever logic couldn't pass my brain is now going through my thought processes.

Eric's parents were friends with my parents and Aunt Jeanine. She probably felt like she should give that assignment to someone who she knew. Also, a Divergent would be able to look for signs of Divergence.

My aunt has a dangerous gift for words. What if she blackmailed him without even knowing at first? What if she threatened his parents if he didn't carry out the assignment? The night before Choosing Day, she told me to choose Dauntless and align myself with Eric without telling me why. Did she tell him to join Dauntless and tell him that she'll give him his assignment if he ranked high after Dauntless initiation?

Because that's something Aunt Jeanine would do. Telling you to choose a certain faction without telling you why until you entered the faction's compound or after passing initiation.

Coming to think of it, of course she would have a Divergent help her, because Eric would know what to look for in terms of someone's behavior.

They say intelligent people are not really interested in hearing about people's opinions or points of view. Two people who are intelligent may come up with different strategies on how to solve problems. I always try to process events with an open mind.

In English, our Upper Levels teacher talked about points of view in literature and journalism. She used the bank robbery example. We may all see the same thing but we will all look at it in a different perspective and angle.

I look out the window, watching the guards patrol the fence surrounding the Bureau.

It's not long before I hear footsteps approach my destination.

"Simmered down yet?" Eric asks me.

I look up at him.

"You could say that, I had time to think," I say, looking out the window before turning my head to look at him. "Did you ever want to hunt down Divergents?"

"I didn't know what my assignment was after two weeks I applied for leader-in-training," says Eric, sitting down next to me. "All she told me was choose Dauntless and rank in the top five among the top ten. If I didn't, there would be repercussions."

"So she blackmailed you basically," I deduced.

"Knowing your aunt, she has a dangerous talent for words," says Eric. "I was training under a Dauntless leader who retired the year before you left when Max had his sights set on Amar. He told me to keep an eye on him."

"He's Divergent?" I ask.

"Four thinks I'm the one that had a hand in his supposed death," says Eric. "All because of that knowing look I gave Amar five days before his death. I was, you could say, willful, in my assignment. I pretended to threaten him, saying that I knew what he was. He took it as warning that he wasn't safe. Four heard me and since he's thick at times, he probably took it seriously. On the day he "died", he snuck into an Abnegation cargo truck, driven by Beatrice Prior's own mother. She adjusted the bags, like she knew he was in there before driving off. I was running a check in control room when Four was on his break, saw it happen and didn't say anything. I didn't report it either."

"So you just allowed Amar to escape," I say.

"I learned yesterday that the Bureau reset the memory of a woman who lived in Dauntless," says Eric, "and they used a body that looked too disfigured to be identified."

"Instead of doing your job, what did you do?" I ask.

"Pretended to be on the lookout for possible Divergents, and pretended that they got under my nose," he says. "Jeanine told me to review the recorded data of the initiates. One of Uriah Pedrad's simulations was not recorded but I marked that as a 'possible typographical error'. I informed her that Tris's simulation was not recorded, but that was because she was obsessed with her from day one."

"I guess you really didn't do your job," I say.

"Last year, she thought I was forgetting my first priority but she attributed it to Dauntless leadership nostalgia," says Eric, grinning. "That I was enjoying my job too much."

I grin too, though lost for words.

"Do you want me to show you something?" Eric asks me.

* * *

Eric leads me through the compound, as if he memorized written directions.

"Zoe showed me something after you lost your temper," says Eric. "Shows that the Bureau keeps track of almost everything."

He opens the door marked _**Chicago Genealogy **_and turns on the light switch before I step in.

The room is a wide circle with a chandelier marking its center with dangling glass. The floors are a dark polished wood that reminds me of dad's home office back in Erudite and the walls, covered in sheets of bronze, gleam where the light touches them. There are names inscribed on the panels, dozens and maybe thousands of them.

"Zoe told me that each city experiment has a room with family trees," says Eric. "This has the family trees for _our _city."

I move closer to one of the walls, looking deliberately for my family tree until I found it.

"They mark each faction with the first letter," says Eric, "though Amity is labeled as 'Am.' Those who are Divergent have a dot next to their name. The first letter is the faction of origin, the second is the chosen faction. The 'F' means they're factionless."

Under William Matthews and Katherine Walker are me and Theodore. Next to my name is ED and next to Theodore's name is EC followed by a dot.

"My brother's Divergent?" I ask.

"I found that out when I led the raid in the Merciless Mart," says Eric from behind me. "I told him to leave the premises so that no one would find him. The other Dauntless didn't take him to the elevator bank."

No wonder my brother paused before he poured his blood in the Candor bowl. I think one of the reasons Eric told him to leave was because he still technically knew my brother and didn't think it was right to round him up with the other Divergent.

Moving up the family tree, I see that we had my mother's maternal grandmother was from Dauntless who transferred to Erudite. I look downwards a little. Vertical lines connect Jeanine Matthews and William Matthews with Herbert Matthews and Genevieve Snow, with a EE carved next to them. Next to Genevieve Snow's name, CE. Moving up the Matthews line, I see that Thomas Matthews married Gabriella Prior.

Niece of Edith Prior, originally named Amanda Ritter. There is only one letter next to her name. E. I go down the Prior family tree. Most of them are from Erudite though there are some from Candor and Abnegation. I get to Andrew Prior. Next to his name is EA and a horizontal line connects him to Natalie Wright, with the letters next to her name DA. However, there is no one connected above her and carved next to letters carved by her is an asterisk. Vertical lines connect Caleb Prior and Beatrice Prior to Andrew and Natalie.

Caleb Prior. AE.

Beatrice Prior. AD, with a dot carved next to her name.

I could now see why the Bureau gave Chicago the faction system. People would transfer to factions, and marry someone from their chosen faction, thus passing down their genetic traits to their children. Edith Prior said that the gates will open once there was an abundance of Divergents.

I walk slowly next to the wall, looking for another familiar family tree until I found it.

A vertical line connects Eric to Cedric Matheson and Clarisse Hilliard, his parents' names having EE carved next to them. His maternal grandmother, Kendall Hawthorne, has a DE carved next to her name and next to the letters is a dot.

This means that Divergence is hereditary, with the possibility of skipping a generation.

I look down at Eric's name again. Carved next to it, is ED, with a carved dot at the end.

"They know who is related to whom," I say. "That's creepy."

I wouldn't have known that both Tris and I linked to Edith Prior. I'm descended from Edith through the Matthews' while Tris has been descended from her through the Priors. That makes us distant relatives.

"If you liked this, you should see the room where they keep records," says Eric.

"How long was I in that room after I lost your temper on you?" I ask.

"Close to three hours," he says.

That long? It seemed like twenty minutes.

"Time flies when you're angry," he says.

* * *

The record room is a long and narrow room, the walls covered with shelves that bear identical blue-gray books, thick and heavy as dictionaries. Between the first two rows is a long wooden table with chairs tucked underneath it. The smell of dust covered pages reminds me of the library in Erudite headquarters. There is a room connected to it, holding three computers.

I inch closer to one of the shelves. There is a white label on each shelf under the spines of book. The label I place my fingers on is the Chicago Experiment followed by the set of years. I carefully take the first book out and say, "First things first?"

* * *

I don't know what hour it is, but time has been going by fast. Several books are sitting in front of us, as Eric and I, sitting so close that our elbows touch with one of my legs over his lap, look through the current book.

I have learned interesting things, especially about my family on my dad's side. Most of our family was in Erudite, with some Candor outliers.

"Anything on your family?" I ask him.

"Most of my family's been in Erudite, though we had a few Dauntless outliers," says Eric.

The doorknob turns and in comes George.

"You two better not stay here too long", he says. "It's almost dinner time in the cafeteria."

"We were planning on leaving the room," says Eric as I start putting the books away back to where we pulled them out. I hear the door close and when I placed the last book when I found it, I feel someone pull their arms around my waist and someone inhaling into my shoulder. I look at Eric before he pulls my lips into a rough kiss.

I turn in my arms as I return the kiss, my back pressed against the spines of books. My fingers dig into the back of his neck as the blood rushes to my face and my breath hitches as he puts his hand under my shirt and moves it up my torso, pressing his hand on the flesh as he does do. When he cups my tender breast, I gasp, as if it is more sensitive than normal.

Our lips break away from each other.

"Let's go to the cafeteria before they wonder where we are," I say.


	32. Chapter Thirty Two: Isobel

**This chapter is a merge between the end of **_**Insurgent **_**and the beginning of **_**Allegiant**_**. The **_**Allegiant **_**arc will be slightly AU like **_**Insurgent **_**but I cannot guarantee a happy ending for Tris and Tobias. **

**The POV switch starts after this chapter. This chapter isn't my best.**

* * *

For the next two days, nothing major happened in the city inside the fence. Eric and I spent most of our time in the Records Room, looking up information on the Chicago Experiment. Though we both transferred to Dauntless two years apart, we're both born Erudite, so it's in our nature to be hungry for information.

I have visited the toilet in one of those mornings. I think I am under the weather with something, but my gut tells me that my morning sickness is the cause of something else.

Nothing major happened, that is until George came bursting into the records room one afternoon.

"Someone's going to do something stupid in the city," he says, before running out.

Eric and I confused exchanged glances before leaving our seats.

The control room was almost full of people, their eyes looking at a particular screen.

"What happened?" I ask.

"Four is going to show the Edith Prior file to the factionless and Dauntless in Erudite headquarters," says Amar.

"That idiot," says Eric. "He's going to set off a ticking time bomb."

How did Tobias get to the file? If he did, does he realize how idiotic it is? The faction system is already crumbling and it will crumble even more if this file is leaked to a majority of people. It's one thing to show it to two people but another thing to show it to an unrestful population.

"Turn the volume on," says David. We all look at the screen.

"What is this?" an olive-toned, raven haired woman demands to Tobias after the screens flicker on in Erudite headquarters, at least the ones that weren't destroyed for some reason. I'll ask what happened later.

Tobias turns to Tris and says, "This is the information that will change everything."

"And cause complete discord," scoffs Eric.

It's moments before the Edith Prior file is shown to the masses in the library of Erudite headquarters. Tris looks intently at the file, as does everyone else.

"I am about to join your number," Edith Prior says on the file. "Like the rest of you, I will voluntarily forget my name, my family, and my home. I will take on a new identity, with false memories and a false history. But so that you know the information I have provided you with is accurate, I will tell you the name I am about to take as my own. My name will be Edith Prior. And there is so much I am happy to forget."

Recognition dawns on Tris's face. After the video stops, there is a pin drop in Erudite headquarters before people start to shout.

* * *

When the control room cleared except for its operators, David tells Eric and me what happened that led up to the leakage of the Edith Prior/Amanda Ritter file:

This afternoon, some Dauntless attacked Erudite headquarters. While the attack happened, a group of people searched for where the file would be stored to see what it contained and one member of that group failed on preventing Aunt Jeanine's death.

The group: Tris, Marcus, Theodore, and Cara. Aunt Jeanine's murderer: Tori Wu. The individual who tried to stop it: Tris Prior.

David even showed us the footage of the attack up to the point where the file was leaked.

"Tori was given Dauntless leadership along with Tobias and Harrison the day after the raid in Candor headquarters," says David.

"Isn't it idiotic to give leadership to someone who has revenge on their minds?" asks Eric. "Because the attack on Erudite was motivated by revenge for something that didn't even happen. Where's the logic to that? It was poorly planned and poorly executed."

"Did you see that she was angry at Amity for not taking part in the conflict and she wanted to oppress them until Johanna called her out on it," I say.

"Maybe it's a bad thing to be away from Erudite for a long period of time," says Eric.

And being given Dauntless leadership has obviously gotten into Tori's head, since she told Tris that she has no say what she does. If and when Tori sees that her brother is alive, the words she said to Tris, like calling her a traitor and war criminal, will come back to bite her.

"Anything on my dad? Caleb Prior?" I ask.

"Evelyn, Tobias's mother, is starting to take control of the city," says David. "I doubt she'll be merciful on your aunt's colleagues.

* * *

The Bureau has put the city in code orange. David says that it means that the experiment is danger of failing. He doesn't want the experiment to fail after it has been in code green for so long.

"I can't say I'm relieved that Natalie Prior got me out of here last year," says Amar during dinner.

"I'm surprised that things didn't blow up sooner," I say.

"That's a complete understatement," says Eric.

"What do you think Tris and Tobias and their friends might do if Evelyn exonerates them? Go pass Amity?" I inquire.

"There is an eighty percent chance that it will happen," says Eric, picking his cuticles. "I can't expect them to stay if they are asking questions. Especially if major discord is going to occur."

"David has a plan if that happens," says Amar.

"Get the tissues when Four sees you," says Eric.

"Most likely he'll think I'm a ghost," says Amar, a trace of a smile on his face.

* * *

In the bathroom back in the temporary housing where Eric and I are residing, I look around for more paper towels when I stumble upon a pack of feminine napkins.

It then occurs to me. I'm late for my period.

The morning sickness. Constipation. Fatigue. The increased need to urinate. All trademark signs of being pregnant at one week.

Pregnant.

If I thought I was under the weather, why did my gut tell me that my symptoms suggested otherwise?

How many times did Eric and I have sex? Twice?

I know I'm not supposed to know I'm pregnant just when I'm in the first week, but since I'm late, constipated, and I have morning sickness, I can't help but think.

I'm not ready. He's not ready. I'm just sixteen and carrying a cluster of cells that will soon develop into a living, breathing infant.

I'm _scared_.

* * *

I don't sleep well for most of the night. I just stare at the ceiling, my mind a million miles away. Thinking about what is going on in the city surrounded by the fence. The life developing inside me.

I move my hand towards my lower abdomen. It won't be long until the uterus expands, supporting another organism. I don't know whether I should tell Eric about this or not.

When I told him that I liked him, he kissed me and that kiss led to one thing into another, but this is different.

This is his child I'm carrying.

* * *

This morning, the control room is full of people eager to see what is happening in the city which was once my home. It's happening. Evelyn Eaton nee Johnson is taking over the city, putting it under factionless control.

It was a good thing that Eric and I got out of there when we did.

Nita turns to Eric and me, and says, "I'm not surprised if the city experiment you lived in fails like the one I lived in."

"You were in the Indianapolis experiment, correct?" Eric inquires.

She nods. "It was a control group. As your girlfriend says, it wasn't as stable as the faction system that was in your city."

"I'm surprised that our city didn't blow up," I say. "It's bound to happen."

Eric looks at me quizzically. I haven't spoken at all this morning. Thing is, Eric is smart, he's not an idiot. He'll know that something is bothering me and it won't be long before he asks why.

"Years ago, David says that half the population in our city revolted and the Bureau had to do a memory reset on the city," says Amar. "If you walked down the factionless sector, you would see signs of it."

I have never gone to the factionless sector, because my parents forbade me and Theodore to walk down there, unless we wanted to be attacked by bands of "ruffians", as my parents called the factionless.

On the one of the screens, Evelyn is delegating with Tori and Tobias. From the look on Tori's face, what Evelyn is saying is making her scowl.

"Why did they appoint her in the first place?" demands Eric. "She's not _emotionally _fit for Dauntless leadership."

"Tori is a good person," says Amar, "but sometimes you can't give leadership to those motivated by revenge."

"She carried out a poorly executed attack on the Erudite, in other words, a massive temper tantrum," says Eric.

"Why did Tori kill Jeanine anyway? I am what Tris said," says George. "I didn't like Jeanine either, but what was the point?"

"That's because your sister was motivated by revenge for a murder that didn't even occur," says Eric. "Right now, logic is not passing through her brain. If Four had any brains, they should have appointed his girlfriend instead. She's bullheaded but at least she has the correct mindset."

"If I recall correctly before I left, I thought I heard Four questioning Max's decision to promote you to Dauntless leadership when good old Darrell stepped down," says Amar.

Eric snorts. "Of course he would question it. He hates my guts."

"You were two at odds with each other during initiation," says Amar.

"Abnegation and Erudite have never gotten along," says George. "Stiffs and Noses don't mix."

Feeling I need to be alone for ten minutes, I slip from the control room and walk through the compound to the hotel lobby.

What if they do have to do a memory reset on the city if things get worse? Then my family will forget who they are. Who I am.

Maybe it would have been best if Tobias and Tris watched the file in private, or else the city wouldn't be under control by factionless. There will be conflict between the factionless and those who still want the faction system.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" I hear Eric demand to me. I turn to see his face. His expression is a mixture of concern and exasperation.

"Nothing is wrong," I tell him. He's not stupid and he'll know I'm not telling the truth.

"You were awfully quiet this morning. I'm not a Candor smart-mouth, but I know that being awfully quiet is a tell-tale sign that something is bothering you," he says.

I feel my eyes burn with tears. I have to tell him. He'll blow. I know it.

"I'm sorry, Eric," I tell him, as the tears stream down my cheeks.

"Sorry for what?" he demands.

"I…I…" I gulp. "I think I'm pregnant."


	33. Chapter Thirty Three: Eric

**Doing a OC perspective is not as difficult as a Canon Character's perspective. I just hope I got Eric right and how he would think, because we are only in Tris's and Four's heads in **_**Allegiant**_**. I was quite hesitant in uploading this chapter for the sake of not butchering Eric.**

* * *

It doesn't take me long to digest what she just said.

She is pregnant? She better not be serious.

Either this is some joke or she's actually serious. Thing is, Isobel does not say serious shit like this as a joke.

"You're serious? Please tell me you're joking," I say, taking a step forward.

Right now I can't think properly.

She's pregnant.

Isobel just backs away, shaking her head. Tears are streaming down her face.

"Now you're being a coward," I say. "Tell me: are you joking or are you actually pregnant?"

Did I seriously just call her a coward? Way to go, Eric, because she's starting to run. I grab her elbow. She stomps hard on my foot.

The exact foot where the Stiff shot me.

I grit my teeth and hold back a scream of pain as I see her run from the hotel lobby.

"Isobel! Come back here!" I yell.

She ran because I called her a coward.

And she hardly qualifies as such.

You say shit that you don't mean when you can't think properly after being told something of that magnitude. I leave the lobby, punching a wall in the process.

What was wrong with me? I didn't mean what I said.

* * *

"There he is," says Amar as I enter the control room. Most of the others have left, including Nita. Though she has some conversation with Isobel and me, it seems like she distances herself most of the time.

I don't mind. She has this shifty aspect to her. And that makes me dislike her.

"Shut up," I spit out, slumping to a bench and looking at the screens.

"Still moody," says Amar. "You and Four still having your little rivalry?"

He chuckles, like it amuses him. Four was always his favorite initiate. He probably had a thing for Four.

Well, maybe he did. Maybe he was his boyfriend.

Before Jeanine gave me the assignment to hunt down Divergents, I could tell that Amar was one, just by his behavior: he was intelligent and brave. Also during stage two of initiation, he suspected that I was one during day three of stage two, but didn't say it outright.

"Just act less aware next time," he said before sending me on my way.

I didn't care for these kids, but I didn't see the logic of hunting down Divergents if I was one myself, especially if these initiates were proven assets to the faction. Like Uriah Pedrad for example.

I still remember the day of my aptitude test, two hours after…

_I nervously tug on my blue suit jacket as I head to the door of Jeanine Matthews's office. Isobel's father told me I wasn't in any trouble, but I can't help but wonder if I am. It must be because of my inconclusive result._

_ Erudite and Dauntless._

_ I still remember the warning that the Dauntless man, Jared, gave me. "I'm going to report your result as Dauntless, as Erudite would have been ruled out. I recommend that you choose your faction of origin tomorrow, as you can be easily caught during Dauntless initiation."_

_ If Jeanine knows that I have aptitude for two factions, I'm good as dead. There is no way to hide an inconclusive result from someone as smart as Jeanine Matthews. If a test wasn't recorded, she knows that the result was inconclusive._

_ I knock on the door._

_ "Come in," I hear her say briskly._

_ I turn the doorknob with a sweaty palm and open the door._

_ Jeanine Matthews sits in the leather chair in front of her glass desk, her fingers weaved together. "Have a seat, Mr. Matheson," she says, with her usual cool smile._

_ I shut the door behind me and sit in one of the white chairs in front of her desk._

_ "Am I in any trouble?" I ask her._

_ "Mr. Eric Matheson, I reviewed the test results of those who have taken their aptitude test and yours was among those that weren't recorded. It was reported manually. Could you tell me why?" she asks._

_ She already knows. Why is she asking me?_

_ She stands from her leather chair. "There is no need to be shy about it," she says, walking to the side of her desk, drumming the glass surface with her manicured fingernails. "You can tell me. I wouldn't hold it against you."_

_ "My results were inconclusive," I say before I stop myself. Great. I must have some sort of death wish._

_ She folds her arms and studies me. More if I was rather something interesting._

_ "What factions did you have aptitude for?" she asks._

_ "Erudite and Dauntless," I spit out. I just want to get out of here and go home. _

_ Jeanine doesn't say anything though she looks at me with that stern expression and cool smile._

_ "There is something I want you to do," she says. "Tomorrow, during the Choosing Ceremony, when Max hands you a knife, after you cut your palm, you are to pour your blood in the coals of the Dauntless bowl. I want you to rank in the top five for the final rankings, preferably first or second. One of the Dauntless leaders is retiring three months before next years' initiation, he is looking for someone to take his place, and I feel like you qualify."_

_ "Why do you want me to replace some crusty, old leader after initiation?" I ask, knowing that there must be more to it. Jeanine murders Divergents. She doesn't give instructions for them._

_ "I'll give you your assignment a few weeks after initiation," she says before her expression turns cold. "If you don't rank high during initiation, there will be repercussions and you will regret it. Understand?"_

You could say that her vague threat affected how I did during initiation. I was ranked second in all the rankings, not quite reaching first ranking like I hoped. I still remember that glare I gave Four when Darrell released the final rankings. I was afraid that I was screwed, because I didn't want to learn what the repercussions were. Fortunately for me, Four signed up for control room work. I didn't learn what my assignment was until two weeks after initiation…

_My feet touch the concrete floor as I make my way to Max's office. Max told me that Jeanine wanted to see me. Probably about that mystery assignment. _

_When I reach Max's office, I see that Jeanine is sitting in his seat while Max sits in the seat in front of it._

"_There he is," says Max as I enter the room. I don't think he was fully satisfied that I was the one who applied for leader-in-training. I guess he would rather have Four do it. I'm not going to sacrifice all that slaving in initiation to give my position to some Stiff who should still be in Abnegation._

_When Max leaves the room, I slump into the now empty seat._

"_Congratulations, I should say, for ranking second in Dauntless initiation," says Jeanine, with that usual cool smile._

"_It's not good as first," I mumble._

"_Still, you'll be able to fulfill the requirements of my assignment," she says. "You can't blame the son of Marcus Eaton for trying not to be factionless, can we?"_

_The mention of Four makes me scowl. However, it is an understatement, as we both slaved ourselves during initiation, only it was only not to be cut during initiation for him. I'm still wondering how he learned those moves. _

"_Eric, there is a reason why I want you in this position," she says, drumming her nails against the wooden surface of the desk. "These Dauntless leaders are trained for spot Divergence in stage two, as it's obvious since Divergents can manipulate simulations. However, I believe that you can see signs of it in stage one."_

"_What are you suggesting I do?" I ask._

"_Volunteer to oversee the initiates' training," she says. "Look for any behavioral trends that do not conform to the faction. Being a Divergent yourself, I trust you to easily spot them."_

"_What is the logic of hunting down Divergents when I am one myself?" I demand._

_Her expression turns cold. "You are lucky that I didn't have one of the leaders toss you into the chasm to make it look like suicide. The reason why I gave you this task is because I think it is more efficient for a Divergent to spot another Divergent rather than waste my time training someone what to look for. Who do you suspect is a Divergent?" _

_I think long and hard on that one until I find an answer._

"_Tobias Eaton, or Four I should call him," I say._

"_I am a little suspicious on that one, since one of his simulations wasn't recorded," she says. "However, an explanation for that could be that a thunderstorm was causing the simulation program to go haywire, resulting in five simulations not being recorded."_

_Perfect. That's one way for Divergents to go under the radar. _

"_Your assignment is to look for behavioral trends in stage one, and look at simulations in stage two," she says. "If you do not do what I request of you, I will consider it wasteful to have someone with intellect like yours be found in the middle of the chasm. Understand?"_

_I nod, not wanting to give the impression that I'm intimidated._

_No need to be a coward._

"_Very well," she says. "Contract me during initiation, tell me what you find."_

_I nod and burst from the room, only to bump into someone. _

_Four._

"_Watch where you are going," I snap at him. Thing is, I should have watched where I was going, but I need to take out my anger on someone, and Four is just the person._

_Four scowls at me as he picks up the paperwork that is scattered on the floor. "I was watching where I was going. You, however, weren't."_

"_I was watching where I was going. Shouldn't you be in the control room staring at computers?" I demand._

_His face turns red as he stands up with his papers. Just the reaction I wanted. I smirk and he tenses up._

"_Why did Max want to see you?" he says._

_If he learns of that pointless assignment that Jeanine forced on me, he is dead._

"_That's none of your business, Four," I spit out and I walk away, purposely bumping into Four's shoulder in the process. I'm not planning to apologize to him. What's the point if I hate his guts and vice versa?_

_Right now I need to punch something. Perhaps I can take out all this stress on one of orange punching bags._

"Um, someone needs to turn on the volume for screen seventeen," I hear someone say, bringing me out of my reverie. Someone turns up the volume and I find myself standing with everyone else.

On the screen, ten Erudite, are kneeling in a group, with their hands over the back of their heads, surrounded by armed factionless. I recognize one of them. The one with the eye patch.

Edward.

When he arrived in Dauntless, I had high hopes for him, because he was smart. Isobel was friends with him since they were in Erudite, but I didn't talk too much to him. I was never fond of associating with her immature friends.

I was even surprised that Will even chose Dauntless. I always thought he stay in Erudite, probably becoming a scientist, like the geek he was. However, he did have that daring Dauntless quality to him, like the time he nearly blew up one of the laboratories at Erudite headquarters before I transferred.

Since Edward is turning against his old faction, it looks like the blade of the butter knife did go into his brain as well.

What was the point of this anyway? To kill those who weren't killed in the attack? Seems like it.

Among the crowd of huddled Erudite, I see Mrs. Katherine Matthews. Isobel's mother. The one who taught Faction History to those who would no longer become faction dependents.

Now here she was, her red hair unkempt, her glasses dangling on the bridge of her nose, looking like she was in pieces. This reminds me when Jeanine orchestrated the attack on the Abnegation.

I'm not really sure that I really wanted to go along with it. I'm sure Isobel wasn't okay with it. Isobel wasn't the type to approve of a genocide of one faction. Especially the Abnegation, since I would see Isobel stick up for the Stiff on occasion.

The first gunshot brings my attention back to the screen. The factionless shoot each Erudite in the skull and they slump to the ground, like rag dolls. Then Isobel's mother is shot and she too slumps like a rag doll.

Just like the Dauntless I killed for shooting Isobel and bringing her to the elevator bank wounded. Once, I see Isobel in her mother's place: slumped like a rag doll with blood blossoming from under her, just like in the Merciless Mart.

What Jeanine didn't know was that I didn't have the stomach to kill the assembled Divergent in Candor. Coming to think of it, I doubt that I would have the stomach to put that bullet in Four's skull, even though I fantasized it in the past.

Heck, I doubt that I would shoot that Candor boy in the head. One of the reasons is because I doubt that Isobel would look at me in the eye again and that was one of her fears: killing a child.

The other reason was that, well, being Divergent, I couldn't see the point of killing Divergents, especially a ten year old boy. What impressed me was that he looked at the Dauntless without fear. He could be in Dauntless one day.

Trust me, I may have fantasized about killing people I don't like, but I never had the stomach to do so even though I could. I wasn't aware of that until I took a look in Isobel's fear landscape.

The topic of Isobel brings it back to the baby she is most likely carrying

Girls her age shouldn't get pregnant and most guys like me are not ready for fatherhood. That is the Erudite mentality. However, the mental image of her carrying _my _child, well, I should say that it's desirable.

In Dauntless, full female members got pregnant at around sixteen and eighteen because you have to be of physical prime to be a member. In Erudite, you have to be twenty-five to carry a child, because you are more mature for that.

I want her to carry my child.

You could say that my initial reaction was unnecessary emotions but if she's going to lose her parents because of what is going on in the city, she needs all the support where she could get.

From what I gathered, fathers are supposed to help the mother rear the child and not be poor excuses like Four's father. I didn't have a close relationship with my father, since in Erudite, they prepare dependents in case they leave their faction of origin, so showing attachment to parents was not possible.

Though I have envied the Stiffs and the Strumming Banjo Softies when I saw them with their parents when I was young, seeing them hugging their parents, being able to run into their parents arms without being scolded.

I was never fond of Stiffs but I envied their relationships with their parents. Perhaps it's that stifling selflessness. Though I never envied Four, except for him passing the class in flying colors.

Besides, how can you be envious of his life at his former faction when his father beat him with a belt? My father was a strict, stern, and logical man, common among the Erudite, but he didn't pull his belt from the belt loops of his trousers and beat me.

* * *

I look for Isobel until I find her in the sleeping area of the hotel room. She's curled up, apparently cried herself to sleep. In the time I have volunteered to train the Dauntless initiates, it's not a lie to say that I enjoyed watching them cower and shrink under me. Sometimes I was satisfied if I reduced them to tears or scaring them.

But Isobel was not a regular initiate.

You could say I'm partial to the Erudite-born Dauntless initiates. It would make sense why I would. However, I had no idea why Myra even chose Dauntless when it was obvious that she couldn't hold herself in a fight against the Stiff, who was unskilled as she was and that's saying something.

Probably to follow her now unstable boyfriend. That girl was a wuss and not even smart enough for Erudite. I think I read what her result was when Four handed me the initiate roster: it was Amity. I think Al received Amity as well.

Those who tested for Amity but somehow jump off the train and wind up in the Dauntless compound are usually the wusses that get cut at the end of stage one. Al should have been cut if it weren't for Peter's stupidity with a butter knife. He only stayed because Edward quitting saved him from getting cut. He should have been cut regardless.

Candors are often the most idiotic ones of the bunch when it comes to Dauntless initiation. I preferred overseeing the Dauntless-born with Lauren, because they weren't such a pain like the transfers, but most of the time I was with Four much to my chagrin.

Before Max told me to look at Amar, I didn't seem to mind the upcoming prospect of overseeing the transfers. Amar would have gotten on my nerves but he isn't Four, someone who I was tempted to punch in the face.

Last year, when Four realized that I was to help oversee the initiates, he went to Max and said that there was going to be a problem, that he might probably punch me in the face. Max said that I was young enough and that they wanted someone with the energy to keep up with the initiates.

Four looked frustrated, just like the day before Choosing Day this year after I told him that I wasn't going to follow his request to take knife throwing out of initiation. I knew that there were Dauntless who liked to dazzle others, but I also knew that there was no point to it. I just refused his request just to piss him off.

Well, that's not the only reason. What if someone is threatened and they're only armed with a knife? They can come in handy.

I sit down next to Isobel and tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. She immediately sits up, looking aware and surprised, her eyes the size of saucers.

"I just wanted to say that I never meant what I said back there," I say. "I apologize for calling you a coward. You're not a coward."

She looks unsure and I put my hands on her shoulders. "Hey, everything is going to be okay. I'll be with you through this. For you. For our _child_."

She nods and says, "Thank you, that means a lot."

I press my lips to her forehead and I withdraw afterwards.

"Isobel, I don't want to be the bearer of bad news but I feel you should know," I say.

"Is it about my family?" she asks, dread in her voice.

"It's about your mom," I say. "The Factionless took out ten Erudite in the street and shot them."

Her expression is of shock before her face crumples and she throws herself at me before crying softly into my shoulders.

* * *

That night, both of us cuddle together on the bed we sleep in. I open my eyes to watch Isobel, her eyes closed, her chest slowly rising and falling as she sleeps. Her dark golden hair tumbling under her. She looks prettier when she's asleep.

Peaceful as well.

I really don't want to lose her in any shape or form.

You are a different person around certain people: I'm a sadist to the initiates, I am not friendly to Four, with the Erudite and when no one is around, I unmask myself to a calm, intellectual individual, but with Isobel, it's like she released something else when I'm around her.

I listen even when I don't give a shit about who she is worried about. When she is tense or looks like she is about to have hysterics, I offer comfort when I would usually be such a dick about it to other people.

I don't know which person I prefer.

* * *

**Hopefully I got it right. I don't want him OOC.**


	34. Chapter Thirty Four: Isobel

"Usually the security team handles compound security," Amar told us the next morning. "When anyone wants to go to the fringe, I volunteer."

Eric and I have been given a month to decide what we might do. David did give us the option of security team or working in the labs, but this morning, Eric and I decided on working in the security team, since we both need to stay active.

Besides, we're not just Erudite smart. We are technically Dauntless.

"What places do members of the security team originate from?" asks Eric, as we follow Amar through the security outpost.

"Most of them aren't from city experiments, but if they are, you have to get your genes checked," says Amar.

"Get your genes checked?" I ask.

"They don't trust the GD's with weapons," says Amar.

"They think they're unpredictable or something?" asks Eric.

"Unfortunately, yes," says Amar. "Once and a while, someone goes and takes notes of GD behavior in the fringe."

"Is it just me or does the name sounds like it's a horrible place to live?" I ask.

"It's not just you," says Amar. "The area is filled with poverty and crime. Not safe to go alone."

"When there is poverty, you get crime," says Eric. "I wouldn't solely blame it on genetics."

"Good thing you retained your brains," says Amar.

"I wasn't muscle with no brains during initiation," Eric retorts. "You have to be smart when you plan on throwing your weight around."

* * *

The officers' residences building have three floors. Here, there are parole officers and security officers. Those working for security, the apartments are one bedroom, one bathroom, and a kitchen and living room combined. There is a fax machine in the living/kitchen area. George says that it's to send our schedules to the officers.

Eric and I were do security rounds on certain areas. I was to make a round outside around the compound before dinner and for him inside. Since this was our first day, we would be accompanied by other members of the security team. I would be with George and Eric will be with Amar. Probably because we're from their city experiment.

Most likely because we're former Dauntless members.

"If Four were here, he'll probably go for control room duty," says Eric as we settled into our new apartment.

"He'll freak out first because of the fact that the city was monitored," I reply.

I remember what Matthew said about Tobias probably not being Divergent, that even those with genetic damage have awareness during simulation and can even bend the outcome to their will.

If Tobias is not Divergent, and if he finds out, which will only happen if he comes here, he's going to hate himself more. He's already carrying the weight of years of cruelty caused by his father.

Eric was jealous of Tobias because he was ranked above him, and if Tobias is genetically damaged, he's going to be jealous of Eric because he is a Divergent.

* * *

Wind whips the hair around my face as I did my rounds around the outside of the compound. Most security officers don't carry guns, but I have a Taser on me.

"Are you getting bored?" I hear George ask me.

I look at him before looking back at the sky. "Not if you're walking around doing rounds."

"I didn't see it as boring either."

"How did the leaders in Dauntless found out you were Divergent?" I ask.

"Our instructor, Levi I think, told the leaders that there was something suspicious about my stage two simulations," says George. "Darrell, Eric's predecessor, thought that it was just a glitch in the simulation program that was causing me to be aware. The instructors would pile into a room and watch as Levi administered the simulations. In my last day as a Dauntless initiate, Max went in and administered my simulation."

"What happened after that?" I asked.

"He gave the illusion that everything was fine, but I knew that if a Dauntless leader administered my simulation training, they were after me," says George. "However, Two days before Max oversaw my final simulation, I was helping unloading cargo when this Abnegation woman came up to me. She pulled me aside and told me that she knew what I was and that she was going to help me."

"What was her name?" I ask.

"Natalie," he says. "She arranged for Amity to take me past the outer limits of the Dauntless patrols. In the early morning of the last day of the simulations, I hopped on the train and when I got to Amity, they drove me outside the outer limits of the Dauntless patrols. By the time I got to the Bureau, two members of Dauntless were pulling my "body" from the chasm."

I am reminded about the night when Al's body was pulled from the chasm after jumping to his death. His lifeless eyes, his bloated body. I mentally wince. I don't want to think about that.

"How did the other initiates not get suspicious?" I ask.

"They planted a body that was too bloated to recognize and reset the memory of one of the initiates that involved me jumping into the chasm," says George. "It was hard watching my funeral from afar."

"You didn't like to see your sister in pieces," I deduce.

He nods. "It was hard seeing her like that. I felt like going back and ensuring her that I was alive."

"David said that Norton wanted him to hand you over," I say.

"I knew that the Bureau wouldn't hand me over but that day still scared me," says George. "And after that, if they knew a Divergent went beyond the fence, the Erudite could do nothing about it."

"If Tori saw you, do you think she would recognize you?" I ask.

George smiled. "She will. Hopefully she might venture outside the fence."

* * *

After my shift was over, I took a trip to the control room just to take a quick look at what was going on in the city. My focus is on the screens showing the Erudite sector and it's rooms in the Erudite headquarters. I see Caleb crouched in a cell, looking agonized, and his blue clothes worse for wear.

I don't know why, but I feel as if I'm empathetic to those I barely know and that I'm more understanding. I know what Caleb did was wrong, but he didn't betray his sister out of malice. He still loved her. He not wanting Tris to know it was him that betrayed her aptitude results and that he had any involvement with my aunt's endeavors shows it. It also showed that he wanted to preserve his relationship with his sister.

Just because you're smart, that doesn't mean you're not naïve. Selflessness, while not a bad thing, makes you trusting of people and if you come from Abnegation and enter Erudite, you're smart but you are easily manipulated. That was a bad decision on his part.

"Do you keep the footage?" I ask no one in particular.

"A years' worth," answers one of the operators.

A years' worth. Maybe, just maybe, if Tris comes here, by any chance, I want her to see the footage taken during the time frame when she was a prisoner in Erudite, that way she could understand what happened behind the scenes. If that happens, hopefully that's the first step to forgiving Caleb.

* * *

"According to Amar, David is having a specialist visit the fringe tomorrow morning," says Eric during dinner at the cafeteria. "Being the Dauntless he is, he said he volunteered to go and he asked if we could come."

"What do they do at the fringe?" I ask, before taking a bite from my soup, the crackers already soggy.

"Amar says they do surveillance on the fringe, just to research on how genetically damaged people behave," says Eric.

Research on how they behave. That puts a bad taste in my mouth. It's like those with damaged genes are inferior to those with healed genes. Like they're nothing more than the animals the Erudite have used when testing certain serums.

I don't know how I would fit in the status quo, since I have an even balance of healed and damaged genes. Matthew said that the Bureau believes that those with neutral genes aren't as unpredictable and are flexible enough in thinking.

"I don't think it's going to be pretty, what we will find in the fringe," I say.

"That's why Amar is bringing bulletproof vests," says Eric.

If he is that means that the fringe is not a safe place to be.

* * *

"There they are," says Amar as Eric and I approach the group the next morning.

We are handed heavy, black vests. The material is a little big on my body. I can assume that there is no variety here. Despite the heaviness of the material, I'm able to tightly secure the straps on the side.

Outside, the clouds look like they are filled with moisture, like it might storm sometime shortly.

"I hope your aim is good," says George, handing me a holster and gun. "A Taser won't be much use in the fringe."

"Don't worry," I say. "I had practice, though I think Eric is a better shot then I am."

"For someone who managed to deface the plywood target during day one of training, you sure underestimate your own ability," says Amar.

"Have you watched the past two years' worth of initiation during your free time?" I ask.

"Whenever I had the chance," he answers.

"Somehow I'm not surprised," says Eric. "I'm sure you were critiquing Four's initiation training techniques from afar."

"Sometimes, but he was very good," says Amar. Seconds later, a woman in dark blue uniform and wearing glasses approaches the group. If we weren't in the Bureau, I would have thought that she was from Erudite.

A minute later, we walk to the truck. Two older officers, Jack and Violet, take the front, Eric, George, and I get in the middle of the truck, while Amar and the Bureau specialist take the back.

"What's the purpose of this?" I ask George as soon as the engine starts.

"Observe how the genetically damaged behave," says George. "Sometimes replace some surveillance equipment."

"There are two factors to an individual's behavior: genetics and the environment," says Eric. "It depends what living conditions these people are in and Amar gave the impression that it is not pleasant."

"What makes you think that?" asks George.

"Psychology," says Eric. "I don't know if you haven't read anything on psychology but I tend to find the human brain and the psyche fascinating."

"Are you sure you're not Dauntless?" asks George grinning.

"Being a GP yourself, I guess you're a mixture of the two as well," says Eric. "Will, who was in the initiate class a few weeks ago had Dauntless in him, but I knew him to be a geek before I transferred two years ago."

To distract myself, I peered over the front window to get an idea where we were headed. From a distance, I see dilapidated buildings and after driving two more feet, the truck comes to a complete stop.

Eric, George, and I get out after Amar and the specialist does. When I get outside, I thought I hear a rumble of thunder.

"A storm is coming," says Amar, as Jack and Violet step out of the car. "We better not stay too long."

Just as I have seen from the window, there are buildings here, but what is more noticeable is the makeshift homes made of scrap metal and plastic tarps, standing right close to each other. It reminds me of the grayscale pictures I have seen in books back in Erudite headquarters during my youth. Books about the history of our city, long before that artificial war that supposedly split us into five factions.

"This makes the factionless sector look grand," I hear Eric mutter. "Yep. You'll get violence in conditions like these."

"You traveled the factionless sector?" I ask him incredulously.

"Only three times before my transfer to Dauntless," says Eric. "If I thought I was late for school."

Probably because of the incoming storm, no one seems to be out, save for a handful of stragglers here and there. Two kids scatter like mice when they see us and go into a nearby makeshift house.

"Sometimes they run when they see us," says Amar. "Soldiers would come in here and take the children to orphanages."

I peak through the cracks of a makeshift house to see that inside, there is sleeping areas on one side and stacked canned goods in another.

"I'm surprised that this country has a functional military," says Eric, as I hear a loud crack of thunder followed by some droplets of rain, "after half of the population has gone down."

We hear something crash followed by screams. Probably a young boy in his teens. I look up to see three individuals surrounding a younger person, most likely to mob the person.

I feel hands clamp on my shoulder to prevent me from moving forward as they attack the young boy.

"Why doesn't the government improve the living conditions?" I ask. "Then none of wouldn't happen."

"Even if they did, nothing would most likely change," says Amar.

"That better be the last of the research," I hear George say.

"Yes," says the specialist (Mildred I think is her name. Sounds like an Abnegation name.)

The more droplets of rain set in before a crack of thunder and a flash of lightning.

"That means it's time to go," says Amar.

As we turn, I look over my shoulder to see someone rifling through the boy's pockets.

They say genetic damage causes this behavior. I read that squalid conditions like this forces people to do unusually things that they would never do.

If the government cares about them, they should improve the living conditions.

_They don't care_, my mind tells me.

This shows that they believe that those with damaged genes are beneath those with healed and neutral genes.

* * *

When we enter the truck, I hear more screams, that of a woman this time. I look back before Eric gently pushes me in the truck.

Nobody says anything as the truck drives to the Bureau. I feel terrible for going back to the Bureau to a hot meal and warm accommodations while people in the fringe have to struggle not to get wet.

I wonder what it would be like to live in a shanty house, struggling to keep warm and dry, and to protect myself from the unpredictability caused by poverty and starvation. I would hate to imagine raising a kid in that place.

"Okay?" I hear Eric ask me in concern.

"I'm fine…just thinking," I say. Looking towards the front window as the Bureau comes into view, the windshield wipers clearing the view, now that it is raining like cats and dogs outside.

The truck stops right at the entrance of the compound, so we could make a dash in there without getting damp. Mildred runs into the compound before we do, where I take the bulletproof off of me and hand it to Amar.

I walk away when a hand touches my shoulder and see that it's Amar.

"Didn't like what you saw, did you?" he asks.

"It's one thing to see a similar thing in pictures, it's another to see it multiple dimensions," I say.

"The Bureau thinks that those with neutral genes are capable of empathy and sympathy, despite their hot tempers," says Amar.

"Even more so then the Divergent?" I ask.

"It depends on the person," says Amar, "but does the Bureau believe that? Yes and no."

"Oh," is what I managed to say. I walk further in the lobby, following Eric, my mind heavy with information.


	35. Chapter Thirty Five: Eric

"No, nothing suspicious in the GD living quarters," I hear Isobel tell someone in a headset as we sat in the small control room during our morning shift. "Area's all clear," before I hear the typing on the keyboard.

It's been at least a week since our visit to the fringe. Our orientation only lasted three days because Amar said that my and Isobel absorbed information faster than a sponge. He calls it the result of our Erudite upbringing.

What an understatement.

Isobel and I never pay attention to what is going on in the city, since we are busy doing our security rounds and our shifts in the second control room, but Isobel goes there once and a while, just to see what's going on. She told me that Evelyn is putting people on trial. The Stiff was let free, so was Isobel's brother.

Evelyn, however, was not merciful on Mr. William Matthews, Isobel's father. Her grief lasted a few hours, most likely because of the 'faction before blood' doctrine that they taught us in Erudite.

Most likely Isobel is watching the city because of what's going on. Being that it's in code orange, there is a high chance that it will change to code red and fail, just like the Indianapolis control group city experiment.

"That is enough for now," says Isobel. "I'll see what's going on in the city during break."

Isobel and I usually take breaks separate times but today we take the same break together. Usually the security officers take theirs in the break room that's in the security outpost building while a select few sometimes go to the main control room in the main building.

And when I mean by select, I mean by Amar, George, Isobel, and three others that were _not _from our city experiment. Probably because of what's going on.

Like it's entertainment to them. If I wasn't born in the Chicago Experiment, I would have found it entertaining too. But to see the city you grew up in about to go up in ruin, that's not entertaining. Not that I want to go back there unless I have to, because it reminds me of a prison.

Besides I haven't been in the main control room since the mass murder of Erudite committed by factionless.

"What do you think is going to happen in the city today?" I ask Isobel as we enter the lobby of the Bureau.

"It's only morning but a lot can happen," says Isobel. "Zoe said yesterday that Evelyn was planning a demonstration today but didn't know what and when."

"Probably has something to do with the crumbling faction system," I say. It must be. Amar said that half of the factionless population are composed of GDs. He's loyal to the Bureau but I suspect that he doesn't believe in the doctrine about GDs, GPs, and GNs.

When Isobel and I enter the control room, mainly it's composed of the operators with a few exceptions. There are a few members of the GD support staff on their breaks, though Nita, who is a lab technician, is sitting among them.

From what I gathered, most of the support staff are GDs. Sure, give janitorial work to those with damaged genes while those with healed and neutral genes are offered jobs for security, control room operation, and lab work. To be a member of the Bureau Council, you have to be a GP, and an employee and resident of the Bureau for a maximum of thirty years.

Nita said a few days ago that it's rare for a GD to work their way up in the career totem pole here. In Dauntless, your job depended on your rank, as the initiates would choose jobs in the order they were ranked.

It must be breakfast now there, because I see Four eating oatmeal in the cafeteria of Erudite headquarters on one screen. Isobel and I had our breakfast two hours ago in our apartment before our morning shift.

However, on another screen, in the middle of Michigan Avenue, I see a few factionless place the five Choosing Ceremony bowls in the street. Edward is among them and I see someone hand him a sledgehammer.

I hear someone turn on the volume.

The crowd kicks the bowls over as they whoop and cheer. The contents of the bowls mix together on the street. Trust me; some of them don't complement each other, like the coal and the glass for example.

Seems like the shouting attracted people, because I see Four with a group of others run from the building, looking alarmed.

"Death to the factions!" a factionless man shouts. Others pick up the phrase and chant like mad men. Edward brings up the sledgehammer and smashes the first bowl. The Dauntless ceremonial bowl.

I see Isobel wince and funnily enough, on one of the screens, Four winces too, but he has an agonized expression on his face. I could see why. The Dauntless bowl provided him the escape from the shitty life he had in Stiff Town. I never agreed with the Abnegation, but what was selfless about beating your kid with a belt? Screams selfish to me.

An Erudite man – it was obvious with his slick hair – runs to Edward and grabs the handle just as he was about to take another swing. In the other screen, displaying the other angle of the street, I see the Stiff being restrained by her Candor friend, her body angling towards the Erudite man and Edward.

Brave to the point of idiocy. That's what she is. Bullheaded too.

In moments, Edward wrenches the handle away from the Erudite man and instead of hitting the next bowl, the sledgehammer hits the shoulder of the Erudite man, who falls down.

No one could possibly survive that blow with that force and strength. It's not logical.

When the incident sends the street into mass chaos, someone steps forward and shoots at Edward three times. The bullets hit him and he slumps to the ground.

The Stiff rushes to the Erudite man, and kneels down to check his vitals. Anyone with eyes could see that he's dead. What's the point?

"That was perplexing," says one of the control room operators. "I need to contact David right away."

Nita turns to us and says, "Looks like I might be seeing members from your experiment soon."

No kidding. With the shit that is going on right now, that could happen.

* * *

When Isobel and I return to the second control room, George is there on one of the computers, drinking coffee.

"Well, you missed the excitement, George," says Isobel, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Did anything happen?" asks George, before taking a sip from his coffee.

"A brain damaged factionless, who was once a Dauntless transfer initiate, made the _intelligent _idea of smashing the five Choosing Ceremony bowls in the view of spectators," I say.

George turns away from the computer monitor and spits out his coffee.

He coughs a little bit before he recovers.

"Someone desecrated the faction bowls? In front of everyone that was watching?" he asks.

"Unfortunately. The person that did it was shot three times," says Isobel. "It troubled one of the operators that she brought it to David's attention."

"I could imagine," says George, before moving to clean up his mess of coffee on the floor.

* * *

By lunchtime, the news of the recent Chicago riot spread like wildfire in the Bureau, and almost everyone had knowledge of it. The members of the support staff probably passed it around. George probably told Amar about it. It's just like Dauntless, news spreading like wildfire when something major happens.

It's ironic, considering the Dauntless faction symbol is a flame.

Isobel and I decide to leave lunch early to look at what's going on in the control room before our separate security rounds around the Bureau. Isobel sits at one of the tables and uses her fingers to navigate through the touch screen.

I see that she is choosing the angles displaying the roof of the John Hancock building. The very location where Dauntless would go zip-lining from. I think I have only gone zip-lining three times with a few Dauntless after my initiation. I no longer did afterwards because I vomited after the third time. I'm not afraid of heights like Four is, but sometimes, I have a tendency to vomit if I'm befuddled.

On the roof are the Stiff, her Candor friend, Zeke, and his annoying brother. I could only tolerate Uriah during stage one of Dauntless initiation, during the occasions when I was overseeing the Dauntless-born with Lauren. They were surprised why I didn't lose my temper around him. As annoying as he was, he kept it to a minimum. He wasn't afraid of me, but was cautious enough to not do anything that would cause me to lose my temper.

"What do you think's out there?" asks Uriah.

His older brother just shrugs.

"What if it's just more of the same?" guesses the Candor smart-mouth. "Just…more crumbling city, more factions, more of everything?"

"Can't be," answers Uriah, shaking his head. "There has to something else."

Isobel and I would be happy to tell them: an airport converted into a government building that monitors them, a squalid area not far from here full of GDs, and three other experiments having the same faction system that Chicago had.

"Or there's nothing," says Zeke. "Those people who put us all in here, they could be just dead. Everything could be empty."

I snort. Zeke is a complete idiot at times. The people who _started _the experiments are dead, but the people that followed kept it going. Aside from that, it's illogical that they are the only ones in existence. If we were, our society wouldn't last long. We existed because the Bureau sustained us. It's quite shameful when you think about it. That we were unknowingly dependent on the Bureau.

"Then what about Eric and Isobel? I'm sure that the earth didn't swallow them up," says the Candor smart-mouth. "If they went beyond the outer limits of the Dauntless patrols like Johanna told us, there must be something out there."

Christina may be an annoying Candor but at least she is smart at times.

The Stiff looks like she's deep in thought until she says, "Yes. They aren't idiots. If they went beyond Amity, then there must be something out there."

Just wait and see, Stiff. Just wait and see.

* * *

The next day, Isobel, Amar, George, Zoe, and I sit in David's office. Isobel looks at her nails and picks her cuticles, mainly out of boredom.

After rifling through his paperwork, David gives us his attention. At ten this morning, Isobel and I were told by Amar that David wanted to speak with the four former members of the Chicago Experiment. Obviously, it's me, Isobel, Amar, and George. Most likely because it involves the city we lived in.

Isobel looks at David, her body tense and rigid. It's obvious that she doesn't like him.

"There is a group of faction loyalists called the Allegiant," says David. "From recent footage, the leader, Cara Cunnigan is planning to take Tris Prior and whatever friends she has, past the outer limits of the Dauntless patrols and she plans on accompanying them. Our plan is for Amar and Zoe to meet with them, unless the other three of you present want to accompany them."

When Isobel and I were walking down the set of abandoned train tracks, I was absolutely positive that someone was going to meet up with us, since I knew that experiments were always closely monitored.

"Unlike you and Eric, Isobel, I guess this group only knows what Edith Prior told them," says David, "which is partially true. We will explain a lot to them when they arrive here in a few days. Something you should know, Tris's mother was not from Chicago."

"Matthew said that," Isobel pointed out.

"She was from Milwaukee, Wisconsin," says David. "Now that's a metropolitan area, not a city experiment. We found her in the fringe almost by accident and brought her here. By the time she came here, the Divergent in your city were almost near extinction. Since she already had tattoos, we had her start out as a Dauntless, so no one would ask questions."

"And to hide the fact that she was born in another city, I imagine that you reset the memory of every Dauntless that resided there," I say. It would make sense if they did, so that no one in Dauntless would ask questions about her existence there.

"Exactly. You are correct," says David. "We wanted her to choose Erudite, that way she could have better access to helping Divergents under Norton's nose."

"But she didn't," says Isobel. "She chose Abnegation instead."

"How would you know?" asks David, looking flustered.

Isobel rolled her eyes in annoyance and said, "Tris and I were in the same initiation class in Dauntless. Of course I would know that Tris was from Abnegation. If she wasn't, she would have been wearing blue and I probably would have known her before Dauntless initiation."

"Oh, that's right," says David. Something tells me that David's memory lapse was planned, like Natalie Prior's "transfer" to Abnegation was personal for him.

Just watch, he'll change the subject.

"Who's willing to accompany Zoe and Amar when they meet them?" asks David.

Yep. He did.

"I'll tag along," says Isobel.

"Are you interested, Eric?" Amar asks me.

I bark a laugh. "If you are expecting Tris, there is no doubt Four will tag along and he will not be happy to see me."

He wouldn't get in the truck. It will be him with a gun barrel pressed to my temple.

"George, are you coming?" asks Amar.

"Nope, I got work to do that morning," says George. "And the day after that."

When we file from David's office, Isobel asked me, "Is it just me or did David have a thing for Tris's mom?"

I think he did, judging by his false lapse in memory.

* * *

**I made a special twist for next chapter, which is in Isobel's POV, which takes place during chapters 13, 14, and 15 of **_**Allegiant**_**.**


	36. Chapter Thirty Six: Isobel

**This chapter contains the twist I was talking about.**

* * *

I walk with Amar and Zoe outside to the truck, shivering slightly due to the temperature of the early hours of the morning. Today, we will pick up the group of GPs and GD's containing Tris. Last night, we received word that the group was leaving right before midnight. It's now five in the morning.

They have turned of what was once the ballroom, a makeshift dormitory. They will give the group clothes when they arrive here.

I'm wearing black corduroy pants, a beige wool sweater, and one of the three vests that Eric owns. I wish I wore something warmer.

"Do you have the picture?" Amar asks Zoe.

Before exiting the building, they showed me a crumpled up photograph. It contained the employees and residents of the Bureau at the time. Among them was the late Mrs. Natalie Prior, recognizable by some of the features Tris shares with her.

Zoe nods before we get in the car. Amar is driving and I sit in between him and Zoe. Amar starts the engine and the vehicle roars to life. The radio, which plays out headset communication between members of the security team, turns on as well.

The truck drives away from the front door of the compound and the guards guarding the fence gives us access to leave.

"Who do you think might show up?" Amar asks me.

I look at him and say, "I think my brother could be among them."

My brother wouldn't leave questions unanswered. He would want to see what was outside Amity, beyond the outer limits of the Dauntless patrols. It wouldn't surprise me if he joined the group that was going beyond Amity. He would want to feed his Erudite curiosity.

"Is your brother Divergent?" asks Zoe.

I nod.

"Not surprising if you're a GN and he's a GP," says Zoe. "That happens sometimes. Siblings of those with healed genes tend to have neutral genes sometimes. You wouldn't tell the difference, since those with neutral genes are flexible enough in thinking."

I look out the window as I watch the evidence containing interrupted life pass by. The overturned and dilapidated buildings remind me of the Abnegation sector, with the way the buildings look like.

The headlights show that the train tracks are ahead and Amar drives from the road and onto the tracks. The rickety, bumpy vibration makes me nauseous to my stomach. Though it's early morning and the sun hasn't rose above the horizon yet, it is light enough that I recognize where we are at. It's been almost two weeks since we encountered Zoe and Amar, but I feel like it has been yesterday that Eric and I were walking these tracks.

"There they are," says Amar. I look over and in front of us is a group of people holding their guns in a defensive position. When we stop twenty feet from them, I recognize them: Caleb, Cara, Christina, Peter, Theodore, Tobias, Tori, Tris, and Uriah.

Tobias mouths something and I see him tightening the grip on his gun.

I get out after Zoe and like Zoe I put my palms up to show that I'm not armed. Both Peter and Theodore lower their guns slightly at the sight of me.

"Hello," she says, and smiles nervously. "My name is Zoe. This is Amar. I'm sure you know Isobel."

She jerks her head twice to indicate Amar, who stepped out of the truck, then me.

"Amar is dead," says Tobias.

"No, I'm not. Come on, Four," says Amar.

Four's face is tight with fear, the color drained from his face. For a year and a half, he thought that Eric killed Amar when Amar was alive. I wonder if Four thought it was Eric because he _wanted _it to be Eric when it could have easily been the other four leaders.

Tori looks at Amar, as if the eyes might pop from her sockets.

"We work for the same organization that founded your city," Zoe says, glaring at Amar in the process. "The same organization Edith Prior came from. And…"

She reaches into her pocket and takes out the photograph. She holds it out, her eyes finding Tris's in the crowd of people and guns.

"I think you should look at this, Tris," she says. "I'll step forward and leave it on the ground, then back up. All right?"

The color on Tris's face drains. Zoe should at least have the decency to wait until after we arrive at the Bureau.

"All right," says Tris, her voice hoarse. She bends forward and picks up the picture before straightening her posture.

Her eyes scan the photograph before her eyes pop with recognition. She looks up at Zoe, like she is asking questions.

"There is a lot to explain," Zoe says. "But this isn't really the best place to do it. We'd like to take you to our headquarters. It's a short drive from here."

A minute later, everyone lowers their guns, with Christina being last.

"Wherever we go, we have to be free to leave at any time," Christina says. "Okay?"

"You have my word," says Zoe, her hand over her chest.

"Go into the truck bed," I say, gesturing to the truck. "It will only take a few minutes to get to headquarters."

Slowly, the group jumps into the truck bed before Amar, Zoe, and I take the three front seats.

"Now this is going to be a bumpy ride," says Amar, looking back as he starts the engine. "Hold on to your seats."

The truck begins its bumpy ride on the train tracks. Behind me is the conversation of the others in the truck bed. I keep my eyes focused to the front window, because they might ask about Eric.

Maybe they don't need to ask. They most likely think that he's at headquarters. If they see me, they most likely think that Eric is at the place where we are taking them.

The truck leaves the tracks onto the road and we drive through abandoned civilization before we go through the tunnel leading to the Bureau. I hear some members of the group stand. Probably trying to see where they at.

Amar speaks with the two guards at the gate before the truck is let through. The early morning stragglers stop and watch as the truck drives through the compound. Amar stops the truck in front of the double doors and I hear the sound of feet jumping onto pavement.

I get out after Zoe and decide to enter the main entrance to the compound. I walk through the security checkpoint and towards the control room, where I see David talking with one of the control room operators.

"The group just arrived," I say.

"Who's with Tris Prior?" asks David, looking at me.

"Tobias Eaton, Cara Cunnigan, Uriah Pedrad, Caleb Prior, Peter Hayes, Christina Kravitz, Theodore Matthews, and Tori Wu," I answer.

"Excellent," says David. "Turn off the screens."

At once all the screens turn off, rendering them black.

"Was I hearing things or is Four actually here?" I hear Eric say, and I see him walk into the control room.

I turn to face him.

"As you predicted, Tobias came," I say.

"I doubt now's the best time for me to see me," says Eric. "I have to cover some work in the second control room in ten minutes anyway. Or else there would be a confrontation here. I doubt David would be too happy."

He sprints from the control room. I think Tobias was so comfortable not seeing Eric for a week and a half that seeing him now will be a rude awakening.

A minute later, Zoe and Amar lead the group towards the control room and stop.

"Is this some type of control room?" asks Tori.

"Might be," says Tobias.

"Couldn't be if the screens are all black," says Tris.

I clear my throat and jerk my head to indicate David, who is approaching them, his hands spread out as if to welcome them.

"This is what we've waited for since the very beginning," says David.

Tris takes the photograph from her pocket, looks at it before glancing at David.

He introduces himself and says, "I'm going to do my best to explain things. The first thing you should know is that the information Edith Prior gave you is only partially true. She provided only as much information needed to meet the goals of our experiments. And in many cases, that meant oversimplifying, omitting, and even outright falsehood. Now that you are here, there is no need for any of those things. Now, the pair from your city experiment that arrived two weeks ago knew a lot of information and all we needed to do was tightening up some loose ends."

"You all keep talking about 'experiments'," says Tobias. "_What_ experiments?"

"Yes, well, I was getting to that." David looks at Amar. "Where did they start when they explained it to you?"

"Doesn't matter where you start. You can't make it easier to take," Amar says, picking at his cuticles.

David begins explaining about all the genetic manipulation caused by the government that created the experiments and this mess to begin with. I tune most of this out because I know it.

That is, until I hear Caleb speak.

"So what you're saying is that if we're not Divergent, we're damaged," Caleb says, his voice shaking with tears.

"Genetically damaged, yes," says David. "However, we were surprised to discover that the behavior modification component of our city's experiment was quite effective – up until recently, it actually helped quite a bit with the behavioral problems that made the genetic manipulation so problematic to begin with. So generally, you would not be able to tell whether a person's genes were damaged or healed from their behavior."

_From their behavior_. Of course they'll think that the GDs are violent if they place them in squalid conditions. I bite my lip to prevent myself from speaking.

"I'm smart," Caleb says. "So you're saying that because my ancestors were altered to be smart, I, their descendant, can't be fully compassionate. I, and every genetically damaged person, am limited by my damaged genes. And the Divergent are not."

"Well," says David, giving a half shrug. "Think about it."

Caleb and Tris glance at each other, only that Tris looks at her brother like he is a rotten apple core that should be discarded.

"Genes aren't everything," says Amar. "People, even genetically damaged people, make choices. That's what matters."

"Take my advice: Don't let this revelation change your opinion on yourself," I say. "You were still the same person you are before you stepped in here."

"Like she said," says Amar.

I process the reaction of the group. Tobias looks like he might pass out while the others look stunned.

"This is a lot to process," says David.

Christina snorts.

"And you've been up all night," says David, ignoring Christina. "So I'll show you a place where you can get some rest and food."

"Wait," says Tris. "You said you've been observing us. How?"

Zoe purses her lips and David nods at one of the control room operators. All at once, the screens come on, showing the city.

"You've always known that the Dauntless observe the city with security cameras," David says. "Well, we have access to those cameras too."

Tris instantly pales at that revelation, with a fear struck look on her face.

* * *

As David leads the group to the hotel, I and Amar go to the second control room, where Eric is.

"So, what was the reaction?" asks Eric.

"Stunned is an understatement," says Amar.

"What was Four's reaction?" he asks.

"He looked like he might pass out," I say.

"Probably because Amar was in the room," says Eric, turning back to his computer monitor. "A year and a half of moping for nothing could do that to you."

Now Tobias needs to be convinced that Eric only warned Amar to leave Dauntless. And Tris needs to be convinced that her brother didn't do what he did out of malice.


	37. Chapter Thirty Seven: Eric

Isobel and I sat in the small control room, looking at the screens while tying down information on computer. Amar is here, running a check on the monitors.

"Amar, how were the Dauntless leaders in sniffing out Divergents?" Isobel asks him.

Amar turns to give her his attention.

"There were two uneven groups that were split on the issue," says Amar. "Max and Veronica were adamant about hunting them down while the other three weren't as enthusiastic about it."

"I guess the latter group didn't want to lose assets to their faction," says Isobel. She's right about that one.

"Exactly the point," says Amar. "Darrell, Eric's predecessor, well, he thought that hunting down Divergents in Dauntless was going to diminish their number of assets. He blamed simulation awareness for various things. Eric wasn't enthusiastic as you know, but that was because he was Divergent himself and he too didn't want to risk losing what he thought were assets to the faction."

That's true. I didn't care for the initiates but half of them, Divergent or not, were assets to the faction, like Uriah Pedrad. You could say that another reason I ignored him was because he was an asset to Dauntless. His rank shift didn't seem suspicious either. No one would look twice at an initiate who was ranked first in stage one and then ranked second in stage two. If it weren't for that shitty war that started, he could have been a Dauntless leader.

"When you administered the tests for stage two," says Isobel, turning her eyebrow piercing in a careful loop, "when was it obvious to you that the initiates were Divergents?"

"If the Bureau doesn't say otherwise about Four, his Divergence was obvious in day one of stage two," says Amar. "With Eric here it was day three. I didn't bring it up with him unlike I did with Four. I just told him to act less aware before sending him on his way."

"I'm sure you deleted the footage," I say, knowing that he did. He probably did the same thing with Four. Thing is, we might not know about what his genetic status is until tomorrow.

"Well, that is that," says Amar, standing from his seat. "I'm going to the break room to see if Violet made any coffee yet."

He leaves Isobel and I in the room. Isobel turns to the computer monitor by me and begins looking at the screen.

"Hopefully, by tomorrow, some tension might be resolved," says Isobel.

"Talking about Tori?" I ask.

"What is George doing today?" asks Isobel.

"He's on some surveillance mission," I say. "He might not see his sister until tomorrow morning."

"Tori aside, I plan on seeing David at break," says Isobel. However, the notion of it seems unpleasant to her.

"Is there a particular reason why?" I ask her.

"I want to ask him if he can have the control room operators upload some footage of Caleb on a disc," she says. "You know, during the time when Tris was in Erudite headquarters, held against her will."

I could see why. The Stiff needs to know that her brother didn't want her to know that he had any involvement with Jeanine's plans. She can't just go by her assumptions forever. That's being ignorant of the facts.

When I was ten, I heard that ignorance is another root of discord. That not wanting to understand something would blind people.

The Stiff is living in a fantasy world. One where she is the only one in the world that is right and that everyone should think like her. I don't doubt that she turned her boyfriend and friends against her brother.

If Four had any brains, he'd call her out on it. Yes her brother was a coward, but turning everyone against him? That's selfish on her part.

In my opinion, what probably contributed to this mess was the fact that they were raised in a faction where talking about themselves to other people was considered self-indulgent.

There is nothing wrong with sitting down with someone and asked why they hurt them. If my loved one betrayed me, I wouldn't trust them anymore but I wouldn't go far as being "You did this to me, so you're not my family member anymore."

She left her birth faction without turning back, despite that incident where she ran off to the Erudite compound with Isobel on the day before the final test. Her brother most likely left Abnegation without looking back either. I'm pretty positive that the Abnegation never put heavy emphasis on 'faction before blood' on the dependents. Because that somehow equated selfishness.

While Erudite and Dauntless are hardcore when it comes to 'faction before blood', both factions held Visiting Day anyway. After being in the Dauntless compound for a week, my parents were strangers to me. There I was, a sixteen year old boy with ink running up his neck (at that time, it was the only tattoo I had on my body. I had the sides of my head shaved and had those microdermals after initiation), wearing black while my parents were in their polished, blue Erudite clothing, my mother looking with disapproval at the tattoo running up my neck. Their visit wasn't long. More like former colleagues meeting with each other.

In Erudite, families had teacher/student relationships.

In my old home, any guest was supposed to remove their shoes because mother didn't want dirt on her carpet. Isobel's house seemed like some library you would enter.

In fact, every dwelling in Erudite should be considered a library.

* * *

When I enter the break room, I see that someone has brought donuts. I try to avoid sweets as much as possible. I never understood the Dauntless craving of chocolate cake. I did eat the muffins, though mostly they were either bran or banana walnut. I think I had chocolate cake once, during initiation and I thought it was too sweet while I saw Four have two servings of it two tables away.

And during the recent initiation, I noticed that Isobel particularly favored blueberry muffins. Probably because of the bread her mother would make on rare occasions.

So, I just grabbed one of the muffins in the break room and ate it before returning to work.

* * *

"David said that he is going to give Tris a file to view on a tablet," says Isobel during lunch, as she put ketchup on her hamburger before putting the bread back on the meat. "I heard it contains her mother's journal entries and letters."

"Is that something he should give to her brother first?" I ask after Isobel picks up her hamburger. "Because there is no chance that she would give it to him."

For all I know she would hog the thing.

"They should have," says Isobel before taking a bite from her hamburger.

"Did they give you the disc?" I ask when I give her the chance to swallow.

"David said he was going to give it to me tomorrow morning first thing," she says. I see that she has ketchup on her mouth. No need for her to use a napkin.

"Let me take care of it," I tell her.

I frame her face with my hands and put my lips to the corner of her bottom lip, licking the ketchup from her lips before kissing her.

"That's disgusting!" she says, laughing.

"Why do you need a napkin when you have a boyfriend to take care of it for you?" I ask.

She grins, playfully shoving my shoulder before continuing her hamburger.

* * *

"Well, that's the last of it," I say, finishing my round in the underground GD area. "I'll check if the area around the Weapons Lab is secure."

It's pitiful that those with damaged genes live underground while those with sound genes see the light of day when they wake up. Sometimes it reminds me of the Dauntless compound.

"It wouldn't hurt to continue your round here," says my companion, another member of the security team named Ann. "Who knows what problems might arise here?"

If they think that GDs are violent and unpredictable, why is the GD staff here always on their best behavior? The Bureau only believes that solely based on GDs living in poverty and squalor. Of course you'll get behavior like that when placing people in that environment.

"Thing is, I'm scheduled to have a round around the Weapons Lab in ten minutes," I say. "I don't doubt that you can hold yourself here well."

I walk away and jog up the stairs to the first floor of the compound. The Weapons Lab, I heard contains the serums that were actually created by the Bureau, most prominently the Abnegation memory serum and the Erudite death serum. If a city experiment is in danger of failing, if that city was so successful, they are able to do a memory reset on the entire city.

How brilliant. Waking up without knowing your name, your family, and where you are.

The area is guarded though; however they have members of the security team do rounds for a double check if the area is sound. I log the data in the tablet I'm holding, watching as it goes into the security computer system.

"If you take another round here, you might want to watch out for Juanita Hernandez," someone says and I turn to see a female guard in her late twenties.

"Has she done anything suspicious?" I ask. That wouldn't surprise me, since there is something shifty about her.

"I caught her walking down this hallway yesterday," the woman answers promptly. "She claimed she was lost but I didn't buy it."

"I'll make sure she won't do anything," I say. I always knew that she was a shifty one. I doubt that she got lost if she's been here a little longer then Isobel and I. She probably has the entire compound memorized.

I finish my round around the corridor and head towards the cafeteria for dinner.

* * *

**Sorry if this is short and just filler.**


	38. Chapter Thirty Eight: Isobel

The alarm clock buzzes at the usual time. Four fifty in the morning. I groan and clamp my pillow over my head, only for it to be snatched away.

"You have some work to do, blanket snatcher," Eric says to me. Yes, I snatch the blankets when we're in bed, but he does too.

"Don't forget, you snatch the blankets too," I say, leaving the bed with rumpled blankets and make my way to the dresser, getting my clothes and security vest out.

"But not as much as you do," says Eric.

I pull open one of the drawers and throw a piece of clothing at him.

"Shut up," I groan. He just chuckles in reply.

I take what I need and head into the bathroom which contains a shower, sink, and toilet. I leave the door halfway open so that I won't feel closed in. It's not long before Eric joins me. If we both start working in the morning, we take showers together to save time.

Coffee doesn't wake me up. Showers do.

* * *

"There you are," says David as I enter Matthew's office, where he will give me the disc. "Having a good morning?"

"Yes," I say. "Got the video files ready?"

"Yes, it's just finishing transferring to the disc," says Matthew.

"Is there a particular reason why you would want to show Tris the footage?" asks David.

"Just to show her that things happened behind the scenes that she didn't know about," I say. "And to let her know that what her brother did was not out of malice, but was merely naïve and misguided."

"Looks like you and Tris are like the opposite sides of the same coin," says David. Perhaps we are.

Matthew hands me a disc with the words _Caleb Prior – Erudite headquarters_.

"Thank you," I say.

"Since your brother is here, you're free to take the morning off and do some catching up," says David.

I want to see my brother but I have work to do.

"I would love to, but, I have to do a security round outside the building this morning," I say.

"I'll let Violet take care of it," he says.

Just then, the door opens and in walks Tris and Zoe. Tris looks intently at the disc as I carefully place it in my pocket. I sparked her curiosity. Good. She'll be curious to see what is in that disc. If she thinks it incriminates her brother further, she's in for quite a surprise.

"Hello, Tris," he greets as I walk out of the room. Good thing that it gave me the excuse to leave the room, because somehow David just makes my skin crawl.

I don't know what it is, but my gut tells me that I'm not paranoid.

* * *

In the break room, the box of donuts from yesterday is still on the table. On further examination, it's empty. What is it with some members of the support staff not discarding the donut boxes?

I put the box in the trash and go to the coffee maker to make coffee for the other employees. When you make coffee here, there is a log of who made it last. I write the date, time, and name before doing so.

* * *

The morning light streams into the compound as I make my way to the hotel. Someone just entered the ballroom with breakfast and coffee so they must be up. I open the doors to the dormitory.

Everybody just got up by the looks of it, with Cara inching her way towards the coffee pot, though Christina looks chipper while Peter is still rubbing his eyes as he makes his way to the breakfast table.

It doesn't take me long to spot Theodore.

"There you are," I say, hugging him. "How is it so far?"

"Different," he says smiling.

"You'll get used to it," I say. "It didn't take Eric and me long to get adjusted. Come on, get some food in you."

We pass through the line at the breakfast table and I sit down with him at his bed, with Uriah and Christina joining us. Tris, holding a tablet, sits next to Tobias and from across the room, Tori fixes her a dirty look before going to the table to get breakfast.

"So, you and Eric left almost two weeks ago," says Christina. "Did you two know what was out there?"

"No, but we did know that we were in some type of experiment," I say, picking a piece of my blueberry muffin. "We didn't know about the Bureau but Eric was right about people possibly observing us."

"What do you and Eric do here?" asks Uriah.

"We're part of the security team," I say. "Right now he's in the second control room."

"Sounds like something Four should be doing," says Uriah.

"So, anyway, I was supposed to work this morning but David gave me the morning off," I say.

"Think you could get us working in the security team?" asks Christina.

I bite my lip. You have to be a GP and GN for that.

"You wouldn't like the process," I say.

Before she could answer, the door opens and in walks George. I look to see Tori drop her paper plate. Her eyes look as if they might pop from her sockets as the color drains from her face. She has the appearance of someone who has seen a ghost.

There is a pin drop in the room as Tori takes hesitant steps towards her brother who she thought was dead. At one moment she pinches herself before looking up.

"This must be some cruel joke," she says, her voice breaking.

"This is no dream, Tori," says George, spreading out his arms.

Tori looks at him before running towards him. She cries into his shoulder before glancing at him. "How is this even…I thought Jeanine…You were dead! They pulled your body from the chasm!"

"I'll explain it to you," says George.

Tori tears her glance away from her brother and just glances at Tris, her eyes wide.

"Tris, I…" she begins before saying. "I just need a moment by myself."

She runs from the room.

When Tori saw Amar, she should have thought that her brother was alive as well. I guess that she didn't want to get her hopes up. And now she is trying to find ways to take back the words she said to Tris. I'm sure the words 'war criminal' and 'traitor' stabbed Tris like a knife.

Who did she pin her brother's supposed death on besides Aunt Jeanine? It couldn't be Eric. He was still in Erudite at the time, a dependent. Did she blame Max? The former initiate instructor before Amar?

George came here before Aunt Jeanine was leader, yet I could see why she would blame her. When Norton's health was failing, he had Aunt Jeanine, his assistant at the time who majored in science during initiation, go into the Dauntless compound for him to view the simulations.

He was the one that started the Erudite/Dauntless connection. But it was Aunt Jeanine who began planting Erudite-borns in Dauntless.

It's not long when I see Matthew coming into the room. He extends his hand to Tobias, who shakes it before he and Tris follow him from the room.

"Where are they going?" asks Uriah.

"Most likely to get their genes tested," I say.

"Does it hurt?" Theodore asks.

"Not much," I say. I look at Caleb, to see him throw his paper bowl and plastic spoon in the trash.

"You know, I'll be right back," I say as Caleb leaves the room. "I got to check something."

I lift myself from the cot and leave the room.

"Caleb!" I shout. He turns and glances at me as I run towards him in the hotel corridor. "How are you?"

"Mentally under the weather," he says. I know what he means. He needs some distraction and I know what it will be.

"Come on," I say. "Let me show you something which will take your mind off of your sister's ignorance."

He warily follows me through the compound, through the sea of workers until I reach the records room door. I open the door and flicker on the light before stepping in. I see that Caleb is looking at the room with wide eyes.

The aptitude test did not lie to him. He is truly Erudite.

"This is the records room. Eric and I spent some time here when we first arrived. This contains records of the experiment," I say. "They have some on your city."

I lead him to one of the shelves containing the information on the Chicago Experiment.

"Shouldn't they keep these files on computers?" he asks.

I nod to the miniature computer lab. "These books contain records when the Chicago Experiment first took off, when their system wasn't secure. The three computers in the adjoining room contain fairly recent files."

I pull out the first thick book and place it on the table. "This was when the experiment first took off."

He looks at me quizzically.

"When did my aunt tell you that your father was Erudite?" I ask curiously.

"During the fourth day of Erudite initiation," he says.

"I thought so," I say, running my fingertips against the dusty tabletop. "Did you want to form your own opinion of her?"

"I wanted to prove my father wrong about her," says Caleb. "I didn't want to base my opinions of people merely on what others said about them. I want to form my own opinion on people. I didn't think she was bad at first. I asked others about her and most of them said good things about her."

"That was the problem about her. She would come out as harmless," I say. "Otherwise I wish your sister had that mentality: deciding to make your own opinion and listening to others thoughts. I don't hate her but she has the bad habit of basing her opinions on other people because one person hates their guts."

Most likely she based her opinion of Eric because of one conversation between him and Tobias, and Tobias's thoughts on him. I practically knew Eric before I entered Dauntless.

"I wish Tris is as understanding as you are," he says. "I wouldn't have a troubled sleep."

Does it bother him that much?

"Um, I'll give you your space," I say quietly before leaving the room.

* * *

When I return to the ballroom, I see that Uriah, Christina, and Theodore are deep in conversation until they spot me.

"Can you tell me why you ditched us for Tris's traitor brother?" asks Christina.

"I was just showing him something," I say as I sit down next to my brother and across from Christina and Uriah.

"Well, it better not give him ideas," says Christina.

"Not if he is surrounded by books," I say.

"Now, Theodore, what was that about crossword puzzles?" asks Uriah, trying to cut away the tension.

* * *

I go to the break room for coffee and after a quick coffee break; I walk down one of the corridors to find Matthew about what the genetic results were for Tris and Tobias when Tobias bumps into my shoulder, looking anguished.

"Can you at least tell me what happened?" I ask.

"I don't want to talk about it," he says.

I know what happened. He learned that he was not Divergent. That he was only aware that he was in simulations.

"You're not what you thought you were," I deduced.

"Where's Eric?" he asks.

"If you're just asking that so that you can punch him, then no, I will not tell you," I say.

"He hunted down Divergents while he was one himself," says Tobias through gritted teeth.

"How did Matthew tell you?" I demand

"He didn't say it outright," says Tobias. "Tris asked Matthew if he tested yours and Eric's genes when you arrived. He said that you were a particular anomaly known as a genetic neutral. As for Eric, he said, 'He fits the genetic definition of a Divergent'."

"So even though Amar is alive you're still going to blame Eric?" I ask.

"If he didn't give Amar that look and if he didn't threaten him, Amar wouldn't have felt the need to fake his own death," says Tobias.

"Eric didn't threaten him," I argue. "He only pretended to just to warn him that he wasn't safe."

"Is that what Eric fed you?" says Tobias bitterly. "You weren't there when it happened. I know what I heard. He told Amar, 'I know what you are. You better watch yourself' and that coming from Eric, that is a threat, not a warning."

"You think I'm that stupid?" I demand. "If Eric _**wanted**_ the Divergent dead, he would have prevented Amar from escaping. Uriah would have been toast during stage two and Tris would have been found in the chasm the day after knife throwing practice. And what I know about Eric is that he can be cryptic with words."

"That doesn't –" begins Tobias before I cut him off.

"You know what I think? That when Amar faked his death, you only thought that Eric had a hand in his false death was because you _wanted_ it to be him, because you had no beef with the other leaders. It could have easily been Max or the other three leaders, but no, it had to be _Eric_."

"That's not true," he says.

"Yes it is. You hate his guts," I say. "Just think about it."

With that I turn my heel and walk away from him.

If Tobias wanted to punch Eric, I have to make sure that there is no mob with pitchforks and torches after him.

Not that they will carry torches and pitchforks but you get the idea.

* * *

Zoe was escorting the group that came here to an airplane ride over the city. George took the time off to join his sister. I declined the offer because I didn't know if I was going to take being in the air while two weeks pregnant.

I asked Matthew if he was going to do a genetic test on my brother, only to learn that David asked him to check the genes of those that arrived.

"Standard protocol when someone from a city experiment arrives here," says Matthew. "Just a way to double check to see if they are Divergent or not. That way we can give them a list of jobs they can choose from."

It's pitiful that those with healed or neutral genes get more job opportunities than those with damaged genes.

Right now, it's lunchtime in the cafeteria, and Eric and I are sitting at a table with Amar.

"I was doing a security round in the corridor by the labs when I thought I heard you shouting at Four," says Amar.

"I was calling him out on something," I say. "Told him that he held Eric accountable for your fake death because he wanted it to be Eric."

"I'm not surprised," says Eric. "He hates my guts. The feeling is mutual though."

"I wasn't surprised either," says Amar. "But I didn't think it warranted a punch in the eye after my false funeral."

"Tobias punched you in the face?" I ask Eric.

"I knew he was going to blow up on me," says Eric. "During the funeral he kept glaring at me while Max was talking about how brave Amar was. When we dispersed from the Pit, he accused me of having a hand in his death."

"What did you do?" I ask him.

"Did the usual. Told him 'I didn't realize you could be that thick, Four. Like you have any brains.'. He said 'I'm not an idiot' and I replied 'For your information, I didn't kill Amar' and that was when he punched me," says Eric.

"Did he get into trouble?" I ask.

"No, because our rivalry was common knowledge among the Dauntless," says Eric. "To try to appease him they gave him my alibi. Bud was tattooing both my forearms at the time. He, Tori, and others at the tattoo parlor backed it up. Four didn't buy it, but didn't make it obvious."

"When did they say that Amar supposedly jumped, because you saw him go," I point out.

"He stowed away into a cargo truck at nine thirty in the morning," says Eric. "At eleven twenty a woman said that she just saw him jump."

"I suppose Tobias didn't know that," I say.

"My guess is that he thought I killed him in the morning, and paid someone to say that he just jumped," says Eric.

Boy, Tobias was leaning for the obvious.

* * *

That afternoon before dinner, I am working in the security checkpoint, running the monitors when I see people scurrying towards the control room, muttering anxiously. Something has happened in the city.

"Chuck, can you take over for a little bit?" I ask another member of the security team who was standing by the alarms. He nods as I run towards the control room.

When I reach the control room, I push through the crowd of people and find myself standing between Eric and Amar as someone turns on the volume. On the prominent screens are Evelyn and Marcus, standing in Aunt Jeanine's old office, with Evelyn looking at Marcus like a judge looking over a defendant but her bitter expression suggests that this is personal.

"You took your time," Marcus says, sneering. "Savoring the moment?"

At the other side of the crowd, Tobias, who is standing next to Nita, stiffens. This is probably the Marcus he knows. I look back to the Erudite report written two days before Choosing Day. Did Tobias read it? If he did, how did he think about it? If your abusive father was a faction leader, I'm sure it will cause you to doubt your faction's virtue.

"Of course not, Marcus," says Evelyn. "You have served this city well with for many years. This is not a decision I or any of my advisors have taken lightly."

I snort. He served the city well alright. Deceiving the Abnegation into thinking that he was selfless like they were. What is selfless about beating your child with a belt?

"I and the former representatives of the factions have had a lot to consider. Your years of service, the loyalty you have inspired among your faction members, my lingering feelings for you as my former husband…"

I hear Tobias snort.

"I am still your husband," says Marcus. "The Abnegation do not allow divorce."

"They do in cases of spousal abuse," says Evelyn.

"Ooh, burn," says Eric, smirking. "There's no doubt that he's toast."

I see Tobias glare at him before he turns back to the screen. He mouths something but I don't hear it.

Evelyn lists his charges which are: deceit, his refusal to follow the rules of Tori Wu and herself, betraying his peers, and for releasing the Edith Prior video. His punishment: exile from the city, beyond the Amity compound.

There's a pin drop in the room and I see Tobias slipping away from the crowd. Maybe this was too much for him.

* * *

"Theodore, I know you like to sit with your sister but she is sitting with the guy who made me hang over the chasm for five minutes during the second day of Dauntless initiation," says Christina.

Theodore wanted to sit next to me at dinner. Christina and Uriah followed him, though Christina didn't like the fact that I was sitting next to Eric, but they sat down at our table anyway because Christina didn't want to give Theodore the wrong idea it they refused.

Sitting further down the table is Caleb and Peter, both facing each other and sitting at the next table over are Tobias, Amar, George, and Tori. Tobias's back is facing us but I'm surprised he hasn't turned to look at Eric just to scowl.

"Who's genes got checked today?" I ask, taking a bite from my spaghetti.

"I don't understand this whole genetic neutrality thing," says Uriah. "Two days ago, they only mentioned genetically damaged and genetically pure. They didn't mention anything about having a mixture of the two."

"Probably because it would be too complicated to explain," says Eric. "Isobel is simulation aware but she can't manipulate the simulation and she has an even mix of damaged and healed genes."

"Matthew said it differs with the amount of damaged genes or healed genes," says Theodore. "If you have an even blend of the two, you're more likely to show empathy."

"Did they give you new ID cards with your genetic status on them?" asks Christina. "Because they are giving us new ones tomorrow and if we get hurt, we have to present them before entering the hospital."

"What?" I demand. I shouted loud enough that it attracted half of the room.

"Exactly, I don't understand why you would need to present your ID if you're injured," says Christina.

I do. Because they are willing to give medical care to those with pure and neutral genes first.

"Um, I need to go to the bathroom," I say, standing up and I leave the cafeteria. The bathroom is five miles from the cafeteria, but I just need to stand and think for a moment.

When I reach the drinking fountain I hear Tobias say, "Isobel."

I turn to see him leaning against the wall.

"Are you stalking me or something?" I ask, resting my hands on both of my hips.

"I just wanted to say that I thought about what you told me, that I thought Eric was guilty of killing Amar because I wanted it to be him, and…" says Tobias, taking a deep breath, "…you were right. I did want it to be him, because I had no else to point the finger at. You're right. It could have been Max or the other leaders, but I wanted to point my finger at the obvious suspect."

"When you hate someone with a passion and something bad happens when they just happen to be around, it makes it easier to accuse them because you have no one else to blame," I say. "You ignore all possible suspects because you are leaning towards the obvious."

"That just sums it up," says Tobias. "Even after they gave me Eric's alibi, I was still certain."

"He had those tattoos on his forearms," I point out.

"Right now I'm trying to think of ways to apologize to him without him taunting me," he says.

"When the time comes for you to apologize, just make sure that either I or Amar are around," I say.


	39. Chapter Thirty Nine: Eric

**Note: just because Tris and Tobias get called out for things, that does not mean that I hate them. I felt like Tris should have been called out on certain things in **_**Allegiant**_**.**

* * *

"Listen up. Every security officer will be dispatched at certain areas to make sure that the doors are locked and that no one is making a sound," announces Kennedy, the chief security officer as everyone in the security team stood in the main room of the security outpost. "Make sure that no one is in the corridors when the alarm is going off."

"What happens if we do find someone in the corridors?" asks Isobel.

"Detain them until the alarm stops going," says Kennedy. "We will announce the attack drill in a few hours during breakfast but I'm going to assign where you have to be."

Isobel and Violet were to patrol the underground GD living quarters, and I, Amar, Jack, and another security officer named Harold were supposed to patrol the outside, to see if the windows were covered

* * *

They announce the attack drill in the morning as scheduled, with Naomi telling everyone over the intercom to lock the doors to whatever room they are at, cover the windows, and sit quietly until the alarms no longer sound.

It will take place at the top of the hour, she said.

"Listen, remember what we said this morning," repeats Kennedy. "Make sure that the hallways are vacant and detain those who are walking around the corridor."

We all separate, going in opposite directions while one of the guards, named Gordon, stands by the alarms.

When the group assigned for monitoring the windows goes outside, Amar speaks.

"Make sure that you can't see through the windows. That they are covered all the way. If they are, report it in the tablet you are carrying."

He assigns me in the area by the labs and when I get there, the alarm begins blaring. I closely examine the windows, reporting that each one is covered all the way.

I wonder how things would go if there was an _actual_ attack. If someone failed to signal the alarms, serious shit would happen.

* * *

"Well, that completes this round," says Isobel after we finished our round in the hallway that leads to the main control room. "I'm going to see what George recorded so far in the control room and take it from there."

"As for the security checkpoint, I better make sure that Chuck didn't mess anything up," I say.

"He's just not super organized like you are, that's all," says Isobel.

"He should be," I say. Otherwise I wouldn't have trouble sifting through his data.

We turn around when we approach Zoe accompanied by the Stiff. When we pass each other, the Stiff gives me a venomous look and she mutters the word "Hypocrite" before walking after Zoe.

Matthew must have told her and Four about my Divergence. If Zoe wasn't there she would have wrapped her hands around my neck and strangled me. Not that she would have succeeded anyway. I'm stronger then she is and I have been in Dauntless for two years while she was in Dauntless for merely three weeks.

However, she did stomp her foot on the same foot she shot and kicked me in the balls during the raid at the Merciless Mart.

She's spunky but she's not an experienced Dauntless like she thinks she is.

* * *

At the security checkpoint, I sift through the data left behind by the last user. Standing here is pretty boring, especially when no one is coming and going from and to the compound.

"Eric!" I hear Four shout. I look up to see him walking towards me.

Great. Now I won't be so bored for a few minutes.

"Why are you busy walking around and doing nothing?" I ask, forming a smirk on my mouth. "The support staff could use someone like you."

Usually he would ball up his fists and tense up. However, his face just colors slightly. Not the exact reaction I wanted.

"Would you be able to listen to me without acting like the pompous jerk you are?" he asks irritably.

"Now what fun would that be?" I say, voicing my thoughts.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for thinking that you had responsibility in Amar's fake death," he says.

After two years, he realizes he's wrong and decides to apologize to my face? It's about time. Because I was getting fed up with those accusations that were merely based off his hatred towards me.

"Took you long enough," I tell him bitterly. "It was getting tiring after a while. Hopefully what Isobel told you hit where it hurt."

"It did," he says. "But I'm glad she called me out for it."

"Four. The stubborn Stiff-turned-Dauntless who never liked hearing people's opinions," I say. "You deserve to be called out at times but you also need to call out your girlfriend for things. Like about her brother."

"We know what happened," he says. "You don't think I trust her judgment?"

"Just because you think you know what happens because of what you see with your eyes, that doesn't mean you know everything that happened," I spit out. "Things happened behind the scenes, and only Isobel and I were there."

He just scowls.

"You two are a great pair you know, because you two believe each other's judgment of others without questioning it," I say, smirking.

His face turns red and he balls up his fists before turning around and walking the other direction. Probably doesn't want to get into trouble punching a security officer. With this genetic status thing, he would get heavy consequences.

Because they don't give a damn about GDs.

* * *

In the cafeteria, I see that Peter is immersed in a book. It looks like an encyclopedia

"What has brought this on?" I demand.

"I was actually curious about what is out there surrounding our city," says Peter. "One of the scientists lent me this book about this whole country."

I roll my eyes at him. I have hated his guts when he jumped into the net. I hated him because he liked Isobel and his abilities proved him to be a threat to my status. I think I hated him more than Four.

Maybe I hated them both with the same passion.

"Where is your new friend?" I ask. It seems that he and Caleb have one thing in common: the Stiff hates them.

"He said he had to go to the bathroom but I think he's actually sulking somewhere," says Peter.

"His sister was probably being ignorant," I say.

"What?" I hear the Stiff demand.

I turned to see her glaring at me, her face red and her hands balled into fists.

"Well, well, here is Miss I-Am-Always-Right when you are actually wrong," I say, smirking at her.

"What gives you the right when you don't understand a thing what I have been through," she says, her eyes flashing with anger.

I look around. A few people are staring. I really don't need a scene.

I grab her upper arm tightly and lead her from the cafeteria. She struggles with no success to release herself from my hold as I drag her towards the drinking fountain.

"Let go of me," she says as we stop by the drinking fountain.

"Your brother was a coward and didn't save you, I get it," I spit out, "but there is a line between harsh about the situation and not understanding what went on."

"I don't have to and I don't want to understand," she spits out.

"How the hell did you get Erudite on that aptitude test?" I demand. "Because unless I'm mistaken, the Erudite blamed ignorance for the world's problems, and not wanting to understand what motivated your brother to betray you is _ignorance_."

"I…" she says before losing her words. She looks deep in thought before she scowls and says, "I don't want to take the word of the guy who called Al's suicide brave and encourage other Dauntless to jump into the chasm."

When Al died, the leaders came together and decided what we should say. I didn't like the kid, but I didn't want to call him a coward. In Dauntless, they don't have a certain stance of suicide like the other factions. When someone dies, we recognize their bravery, no matter how they died. Suicide or not. To call them a coward was dishonoring their memory. I was merely following standard protocol and that was it. I was worried that Isobel misinterpreted my speech, but luckily, she didn't. Besides, Peter, Drew, and Al didn't try tossing _her_ in the chasm.

Also, I wasn't encouraging suicide. What does the Stiff think the Dauntless were? Idiotic sheep?

"I was not encouraging –" I begin.

"You think I don't know suicide glorification when I see it?" she argues. "That was what you were doing."

"You have a lot to learn, Tris," I say. "I was merely following standard protocol. When someone dies in Dauntless, no matter how they died, its standard protocol to call them brave. To call the deceased cowards dishonors that person's memory. Being an initiate at the time, I'm not surprised you didn't know that. Besides, what was I supposed to do? Condemn the kid when he couldn't hear? He was recently pronounced deceased at the time."

"I…I…" she says before gulping. She says nothing. Good. I sucked the arguments from her.

"Suicide is just desperation and it's just plain sad. To call it cowardice is callous and ignorant."

"I'm curious, what is the Erudite stance on suicide?" she asks. "The Abnegation stance is that suicide is an act of selfishness."

In Erudite, they see suicide as foolish, but they don't condemn the person that did it, because they didn't know what that person was thinking, and condemning someone for suicide was ignorance to that person.

And boy, I didn't know that Stiffs could stoop so low.

"This may seem complicated to you. While the Erudite thought suicide was foolish, they believed that condemning the person was ignorant of what that individual might be thinking," I explain.

"Oh," she says.

"Also, you need a serious reality check on what is selfish or not," I say.

The Stiff opens her mouth –

"What are you grilling her for?" I hear Four demand.

We turn to see Four striding towards us, his fists balled. Relief is on her features. Probably because he has come to save her.

"Trying to intimidate sense into her," I say.

"This is not Dauntless," he says. "Do you want me to tell the chief security officer?"

"Very intelligent, Four," I say, "but with your genetic status, you seriously think they will listen to you?"

"What are you talking about?" she demands. Seriously. How naïve can this girl get?

"You'll be surprised how they do the status quo here, and I guarantee that you will not like it," I say.

With that I walk back towards the cafeteria, not regretting a word I said.

She should be called out for some things.

* * *

That night when I arrive in my apartment, I see that Isobel has gone to bed without me. Probably tuckered out from the day.

I just take a shower, put on my shorts and get in bed with her.

She later catches me off guard and rolls on top of me, laughing softly in the process.

"Shouldn't pregnant women have any interest in sexual activity at this early stage?" I ask, smiling up at her, her hair falling to my face like a dark golden, satin curtain.

"You can't let the men always have the first move," she says, smiling down at me. It's not long before she kisses me.

I'm not against facial piercings but I personally didn't understand why people pierced their lips. I'm glad that Isobel didn't do it. I have no interest in tasting metal on another person's lips.

My hands slide down the familiar contours of her torso, her curves.

At this point, I roll us over on the bed, my lips crushing hers. My fingers twine with the locks of her hair as she digs her fingers into the back of my neck, her body pressing towards mine.

I feel myself start to harden.

My fingers leave her hair to the hemline of her long black shirt and as if upon instinct, she lets her arms up, allowing me to remove the shirt from her body and discard it on the floor.

It doesn't take too long to disrobe and our skin is pressing each other's. I lightly squeeze her right breast and she cries softly in ecstasy before withdrawing my hold. She spreads her legs apart and lifts up her hips as I position myself to enter her.

I am inside her seconds later.

She digs her fingers into my back as I slowly and gently thrust into her. I feel the speed of her heart beat, thumping like a elastic band. My lips leave hers and I make a trail down her jaw line to the side of her neck.

Her body arches towards me and I feel her rolling us over, with her on top of me, yet I'm still inside her. I have always preferred her underneath me, solely because I liked the way her hair tumbled under her head and splayed over the pillows.

She carefully rides me, her breaths slow and concentrate. I run my hands on her back and place them on the lower area of her back, where a tattoo of the Dauntless flames is drawn into.

Her long hair is a curtain when she kissers me, her hands touching my bare chest in the process.

I come shortly before she reaches her climax.

We collapse and disconnect like a puzzle piece, breathing heavily.

* * *

**I know that it's safe to have sex at pregnancy, but for two weeks pregnant, I had to do some digging. I'm not a medical expert (though my dad is a RN). I have no interest in the medical field whatsoever.**


	40. Chapter Forty: Isobel

**You're going to hate me for this.**

* * *

"Isobel, do you mind filling the nightshift patrolling the lobby?" Amar asks me the next morning when he peeks his head into the control room.

"No, why?" I ask.

"Candace got the stomach flu," says Amar.

"Oh, well, alright, I'll fill her shift tonight," I say.

Amar nods before leaving the room.

Great. Not that I have done nightly rounds before, but I usually have to sleep first to save up some energy. Not to mention Eric and I had sex last night before falling asleep.

I return to my computer monitor, drumming my fingertips against the desk, watching the screens displaying the laboratories.

"This looks suspicious," I heard George mutter.

I swivel around in my seat, walk over to where he is, and stand over his shoulder.

"Look at this," he says, playing back the footage. From the time stamped at the right bottom corner, its past midnight and it shows Nita taking a bag from a mop closet and with her is Tobias.

"What are they doing with a bag in the middle of the night?" I ponder.

"That's what I'm asking," says George.

What was Tobias doing with Nita in the dead of night? Hopefully he isn't cheating on Tris, but that bag that Nita took out from the mop closet suggests something else.

* * *

Later that morning, I go to the security checkpoint when I cross Tobias.

"What were you doing with Nita last night?" I ask sternly.

"How do you know about this?" Tobias demands, looking baffled.

"I work security, Tobias," I say, giving him an, _are you an idiot, _look. "I sometimes work in the second control room. You think we don't have cameras?"

"Shit," he mutters, like he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"What were you and Nita doing with a bag at midnight?" I ask.

"Listen, just keep it at that, okay?" he says. "Just act like it never happened."

With that, he sprints away.

"What's with him?" I hear Eric demand behind me.

I turn to him and say, "How good is Tobias when it comes to judging other's character?"

"He doesn't have the best judgment," says Eric. "Which isn't surprising, because he isn't the brightest tool in the shed."

Sometimes, Tobias puts himself at risk of getting used by other people.

* * *

"What is it with the Erudite and the term thick-headed?" Christina asks during lunch.

"I thought thin skinned was used to described someone's stupidity," says Uriah.

"Or dense," says Christina.

"Those too," I say, pondering my soup. "But my brother and I prefer thick-headed."

"Why?" Christina asks Theodore.

"Because thick-headed means that your skull is too thick to process anything," explains Theodore. "That way your brain can't get anything."

"Who taught you two that one? Jeanine?" asks Uriah.

"To be honest, she would use that phrase against certain dependents or initiates that she thought were too dim for Erudite," I say, before eating a spoonful of my soup.

"I want you and Theodore to give me honest answers: were you two sad when Jeanine died?" asks Christina.

I don't think I felt sad. I wasn't that close to her. In the end, my relationship with her was merely like colleague to colleague.

"In Erudite, they put the emphasis on 'Faction before Blood' on the dependents," says Theodore. "You were fed and cared for, but the relationships were more student/teacher then family, so I didn't feel anything."

Christina looks at me.

"My relationship with my aunt was more colleague-like," I say. "I'm not mad at Tori _for _killing her, but I'm mad at Tori for the _reason _why she killed her."

All because she thought George died when he was actually alive.

* * *

That night, a hour past midnight, I make my round around the labs in the compound, approaching the main lobby. I look back to a few months ago about how things were and almost laughed.

When I was in Erudite and when I joined Dauntless, I never thought that I would be here and that I would see Eric again. If Aunt Jeanine didn't show us the Edith Prior video and gave us most of the information, Eric and I wouldn't have planned to go beyond Amity and wind up here.

In every faction, the age of giving birth differs. I heard it was common place for girls my age to get pregnant, since in Dauntless, you only have to be a member if you are fit and able enough. Eric and I could have done it. We could have raised our child in Dauntless, live in his apartment.

That is, if Aunt Jeanine didn't plan on murdering many innocent Abnegation just to get information.

When I just about reach the lobby, I see two figures sitting by the sculpture. Upon further examination, I see that they are Tris and Caleb.

"You know what mom told me once?" Caleb says. "She said that everyone has some evil inside them, and the first step to loving anyone is to recognize the same evil in ourselves, so we're able to forgive them."

He's right, because no one is perfect.

"Is that what I want me to do?" asks Tris dully, standing up. "I may have done bad things, Caleb, but I would _never_ deliver you to your own execution."

"You can't say that," says Caleb. "You didn't know how persuasive Jeanine was –"

She curls her fist and punches him. When he staggers back, holding his face, she runs at him and slams him against the sculpture.

"I hate you, Caleb! You're a traitor! You're a coward! I will kill you! I will kill you!"

I run to her and grab her wrist.

"Enough," I say sternly.

She looks at me before giving Caleb a contemptuous look before letting go of his shirt. I give Caleb a sympathetic look before dragging Tris to the still lit hotel lobby.

"Excuse me, but he did warrant that?" I demand.

"Yes, and I should have done that a long time ago," she says, folding her arms.

"The words you just called him and that punch, if you think it's not going to affect him, you're sadly mistaken," I say.

"I'm tired of hearing his excuses," she says. "Did you think I want to hear about his excuse about Jeanine being persuasive when he was smart enough to not be persuaded?"

"You have no idea how persuasion works, do you?" I demand. "You don't have to be an idiot to be persuaded and even the intelligent ones are naïve. Besides, I have been around my aunt longer then you. I knew how she fully operated. You didn't."

Tris doesn't say anything.

"You know what I think selflessness also applies. Thinking about what the other person must have thought first before going to your conclusions. Selflessness isn't just mundanely putting others before you. It's also mental. And turning your friends and Tobias against your brother that's not selfless, that's _selfish_!"

"I –" Tris begins.

"And not wanting to understand why your brother betrayed you and what went on behind the scenes is _ignorance_, the opposite of Erudite values. An Erudite would sit down with their friend or sibling and talk about what happened, not do this childish drivel. I didn't think that you can be this callous, Tris. What common sense is there in disowning your own sibling when you lost your parents and you have no genetic family left? If Theodore betrayed me, I would be upset too, but I wouldn't disown him. I would sit down and talk to him."

I take the disc from my vest pocket and hand it to her. "Watch this, and then ask _me _how my aunt _fully _operated."

I walk from the hotel lobby, leaving her behind. When I turn the corner, I see her pocket the disc.

* * *

"Is it true that you pulled Tris off her brother last night?" Eric asks me early the next morning after Violet brought coffee to the control room.

I nod before taking a sip from my mug. "I gave her an earful too."

"If her boyfriend isn't, someone needs to," says Eric as I set down my mug. "If you're not called out, you get the illusion that you are correct in your views. Thing is, she's going to hurt herself more than others."

If she keeps cutting ties with her loved ones if something bad happens, she'll have no one.

"I don't understand her mentality," I say. "Probably because I'm a GN and she's a GP."

"I understand that Divergent mentally pretty well, except that I didn't get _three _factions," says Eric. "Erudite, Dauntless, and Abnegation make a terrible blend. It could be that Dauntless makes Stiffs stubborn when they reach Dauntless but put Erudite in the mix and you get trouble."

"I hear," I say.

"The Erudite didn't believe that she couldn't possibly get three, that she only got three because she didn't choose between the knife and the cheese," says Eric. "Do you also know that the aptitude test doesn't just go by your choices, but how you think as well?"

"That doesn't surprise me," I say. "Aunt Jeanine said that she invented the aptitude test, but I guess she only enhanced it."

"Since the Bureau founded our city, I shouldn't be too surprised that they were ones who invented it," says Eric.

Which raises the question: How much of the serums were invented by the Bureau?

* * *

I stand at the monitor in the security checkpoint, sifting through data.

Today seems calm. However, I read that when there is usually a calm morning, is when something bad is about to happen. But I shouldn't get too paranoid.

My brother and Uriah are standing near the sculpture talking. I leave my post and walk slowly towards them.

When I'm a few feet away from them is when it happens.

The wall next to Uriah explodes and before I could react, I am knocked off my feet. My back hits something hard. Metal. It's not long before the back of my head collides with the metal surface.

Hard.

Everything goes black.


	41. Chapter Forty One: Eric

The first thing that alerted me was the gunshots, then the scurrying of feet. I happened to be three corridors away when it happened.

Not long after that, I hear an explosion.

Quietly, I stalk through the corridors, just to give me an advantage if I am behind the perpetrator. Attacking someone from behind is one of the best tactics for a Dauntless.

When I get to the scene of the crime, I see bodies, bodies of the guards lying about. Now this looks like a group committed this act of violence.

Second of all, why the hell are the alarms not going off?

I turn the corner when I hear people approaching.

"I've never fired one," I hear Matthew say.

"Oh, for God's sake," mutters the Stiff.

Before I can think of following them, I hear someone talk to another person on the headset.

"A member of the support staff thought she saw Tobias Eaton in the control room before the explosion," I hear Jack say. "Looked pretty darn suspicious."

I look to see Matthew and the Stiff turning the corner. Probably trying to find whoever is in this building.

This business about Four acting suspicious is more interesting. Could be because of our rivalry with each other.

With that in mind, I start down the opposite hallway.

* * *

It doesn't take long to find him. The lobby is roped off and I thought I hear something about two people in comas, with one worse off than the other, and someone charred beyond recognition.

With injuries like that, the last person most likely didn't survive.

I go outside using one of the old airport gates and loll and behold, there is Four, standing there. Instead of breaking off into a run, he lunges at me.

I take out my gun. He punches me hard in the nose. Instead of doubling over in pain, I slam the butt of my gun on his jaw. With him disoriented, I punch him hard in the eye, knocking him down.

He doesn't bother to get up and defend himself when I restrained him with handcuffs and I spoke through the headset. "I detained Tobias Eaton. Copy."

"Where was he?" I'm asked.

"Just outside by one of the old gates," I answer.

* * *

I haul Four through the corridors to the prison block that is just near the GD living area. As I get there, I see some guards put a few people in an opening.

"Glad you caught him," says one of the guards. Shelly, I think.

"How many people saw him?" I ask, as she removes the handcuffs and replaces them with a plastic tie, putting his hands in front of him.

"Five people," she says. "We don't know who did it but before he dismantled the alarm system, someone must have spiked the operators' drinks with peace serum."

She places him between two people. After he was forced in his seat, Four glares at me.

I was just doing my job. Well, I wanted to be the one to arrest him. I'm sure he probably knows that.

I leave the area, intent on finding Isobel. She was working at the security checkpoint before this shit happened. Hopefully she's safe. Not unscathed but safe.

Hopefully she didn't miscarry.

* * *

When I get to the emergency ward in the hospital, I see people being admitted for injuries, yet it manages to be chaotic at the same time.

"Can I at least see him?" I hear the Stiff ask someone, while I was looking for Isobel. I walk towards the source of her voice and see her standing in front of closed door in a section labeled INTENSIVE CARE. There are five rooms and two of those doors are closed.

"Right now, they are performing some minor surgery," says the nurse.

"Can you tell me his current condition?" presses the Stiff.

"Grave," is the answer. "With a Glasgow Coma of 4, we don't know about his chances of waking up."

Who's in a coma? If it's a scale of 4, that person has little chance of waking up.

The Stiff turns away and when she sees me, she stops.

"What the hell are you doing here, Eric?" she demands, sending me daggers. On her shirt is a blood smear the shape of fingers and on her forehead is a gash that needs to be stitched up.

"Hey, in case you don't know, I'm looking for my girlfriend," I spit out. "Do you have any idea where I can find her?"

"I don't know where she is," the Stiff insists. However, there is something about her tone that suggests that she does _know_. That she doesn't want to tell me.

That she doesn't want to be the one to tell me.

"I'm not Candor, but it's obvious that you don't want to tell me," I spit out. "You know where she is, don't you?"

The Stiff slouches slightly, her defensive expression becoming grave.

She swallows.

"Come on. Spit it out!" I snap.

"She was a few feet away from Uriah and her brother when the explosion happened. She wasn't too close, but close enough that the force of the explosion knocked her off her feet. She hit one of the equipment at the security checkpoint…" The Stiff lowers her head. "She's in a coma."

I can hardly comprehend the news.

"_What_?" I demand in a deadly voice. Last time I saw Isobel, she was responsive, able to make conversation.

The Stiff takes a step back before running from me. This further proves that she didn't want to be the one to tell me. No one would, considering that I can be a dick to people in general.

I stride to the intensive care area. Upon further inspection, these doors don't have windows in which you can look into.

Shit.

I look towards the nurse who is looking at a tablet between the two closed doors.

"Anything you can tell me about Isobel Matthews's condition?" I ask. I need to have answers. Now.

She gives me a harassed look. "We have nothing concrete yet, though we can say that her Glasgow Coma is a scale of 10. Moderate head injury. She's just lucky that she wasn't too close to the blast like Uriah Pedrad. "

But close enough to be knocked out by the force of the explosion. If she's considered lucky that she wasn't too close, that means that she might wake up.

I leave the intensive care area and walk through the emergency ward.

Oh, I'm supposed to broken over the fact that Isobel is a coma, am I? Well, if you think that, you are poorly informed. Yes, I'm worried, but that doesn't mean I have to be broken and dwell over it 24/7.

Outside of the emergency ward, most of the people waiting are support staff with injuries varying from mild to worse. The ones with the worst injuries need the medical attention first.

In Dauntless, those with severe injuries were given medical treatment right away. But this isn't Dauntless and this place is rife with this bullshit about those with healed genes being superior to those with damaged genes.

When I turn the corner, I'm face to face with the Stiff's Candor friend.

"What is it with you and appearing out of nowhere?" she demands, folding her arms. "Do you do that to purposely scare people?"

"Not right now, no," I say.

She just rolls her eyes and keeps on walking. I bet she still remembers that I made her hang over the chasm for five minutes during Dauntless initiation this year. Has hated my guts ever since then. I don't regret hanging over the chasm, but one way to have avoided it was if I called out that fight myself.

And they consider me a hypocrite, because I said that the training fight ends when one is too tired, too beaten to continue, and I called off the fight between Isobel and Peter after she vomited on the platform.

It's true, since I wouldn't have done it with any other initiate and I only call off fights when the opponent keeps beating someone who is evidently not going to fight back. Peter should have known that if it's evident that the Stiff won't fight back, he should have just kicked her once, not keep kicking her in the ribs. I had to call it off, mainly because the Stiff's friend shrieked, Four left looking disgusted, Isobel looked like she might vomit, and not to mention, I would be sitting in Max's office, being given a talk to.

Not that he would have stripped me of my position, since Jeanine was the one that pulled the strings to make sure I got Dauntless leadership. Darrell was retiring anyway, and a week after I took his place which was three months before Dauntless initiation last year, Amar faked his death and left for the Bureau.

I sit down at one of the empty benches, feeling apprehensive.

* * *

"To ease some confusion, this morning, a GD rebel group from the fringe attacked the compound and almost broke into the Weapons Lab where they met resistance and were stopped. We do know that they were after stores of death serum. At one o'clock this afternoon, the perpetrators would be interrogated in the order by which role they had in the plot. We will release the casualty count at six this evening."

The intercom goes silent after the woman makes her announcement. Its noon now and I'm still sitting in the waiting area of the hospital. I see the Stiff walk past me, going towards the emergency ward. Probably to visit Uriah.

From what I heard, Uriah is the one that has a Glasgow Coma of 4. No word on Isobel's brother yet, though I heard that he was grotesquely charred beyond recognition from the blast.

No one could possibly survive that.

I see the Stiff walk back, looking crestfallen. To my surprise, she sits a few feet away from me.

"Should you be at lunch?" she asks, not looking at me.

"Not until I get any more word on Isobel," I say. Hopefully they don't keep her for long. If there's one thing I know about comas, it's that it is good to give the brain stimulation, not just leave them in a quiet room.

I don't even feel famished anyway. Must be because I'm hungry for answers about Isobel.

Its noon and they should have information now, not be baiting me like this. I'm not concerned just about her, but our baby especially.

"Isobel is in a coma too, right?" the Stiff asks.

"A scale of 10," I say. "I was told that she was lucky. That she wasn't too close to the blast like Uriah was."

"What does that mean? The Glasgow Coma Scale?" asks the Stiff curiously.

That's one pitiful thing about not being born in Erudite. I didn't understand the Abnegation and what they considered selfish. Reading books is not in any way self-indulgent.

"The Glasgow Coma Scale grades eyesight, verbal communications, and physical stimuli," I explain. "Add them up and you get a score. 3 to 8 GCS is severe head injury, 9 to 12 is moderate head injury, and 13 to 15 is mild head injury."

"So, Uriah has a GCS of 4, and Isobel has a GCS of 10," answers the Stiff. "That means that Uriah has severe case then Isobel."

"Yes," I say.

"I don't know much about comas," answers the Stiff sheepishly. "I bet you do."

"I know a lot about the brain in general," I reply. "When someone is in a coma, it's best to give the brain stimulation."

"Stimulation?" the Stiff asks me.

"For one, it's essential to play music in the room, even when no one is there," I explain. "Preferably classical, because that way she can think. Read to the comatose person, engage in conversation with them."

"What's the point of talking to someone if they can't reply back?" questions the Stiff, raising an eyebrow.

Can this girl not get any more naïve?

"Just imagine what their reply will be. Talk to them as if they are fully responsive," I say. "Even if that person doesn't wake up."

The Stiff looks at her hands. I guess that she is having a hard time taking in the fact that I'm an intellectual as well. I'm not just some brute that mindlessly throws my weight around.

She hates my guts, so why is she even talking to me about this? I thought she would ask Cara these things.

"Why are you asking me these questions?" I ask. "Why didn't you ask Cara? She's not the one that tried to have Four throw knives at Al. And I know for a fact that she didn't make your Candor friend hang over the chasm for five minutes."

She pauses before answering, "Well, you happened to be around, so I thought that I must ask you. You were Erudite." She pauses before asking, "Did Jeanine know you were Divergent?"

"She did, otherwise I wouldn't have lasted Dauntless initiation," I spit out. "Before she told me to choose Dauntless, she coaxed me into telling her that my results were inconclusive. She knew, because you can't hide an inconclusive result from someone who is as smart as she was."

"Why would she need a Divergent? She could have trained someone what to look for," the Stiff presses. She pauses, likes she remembers something, probably what Jeanine ever told her. "Jeanine told me that Divergents sometimes had their uses. I didn't know that meant for a Divergent to help her hunt them down."

"Exactly. She thought that having a Divergent help her was more essential, because she didn't want to waste time training someone what to look for," I say with resentment. "She wanted someone to spot signs in stage one. A Divergent would easily know what behavioral trends what to look for."

"But she told you that you wouldn't have seen anything in stage one," the Stiff argues before catching herself. Did she overhear my conversation with Jeanine the night when she was nearly tossed in the chasm?

"How much did you hear?" I ask. Don't go hostile on the Stiff, Eric. Just act curious.

"Not much," she says, relaxing slightly. "Only that Jeanine had Max appoint you to hunt for Divergent rebels."

I remember that tingling suspicion when I spoke with Jeanine that night. I thought for sure that someone was listening in, but I didn't investigate.

"Jeanine only said that just in case someone was listening in on the conversation," I say. "Because she wanted to maintain the illusion that a Divergent Hunter is not a Divergent."

The Stiff looks down again. "Did you think I was Divergent after I volunteered to take Al's place during knife throwing practice?"

"Obviously, with that Abnegation selflessness you displayed," I say. That day, I told her that I would keep my eye on her. I wanted to tell her "We train soldiers, not rebels," but that would have been too conspicuous.

"I thought so," she says.

"You're not as dim as I thought," I say. "If I really wanted to hunt down Divergents, you would have been found in the chasm the next day. No point in wasting away assets, right?"

When I first saw her, I honestly thought that she would have gotten cut. Four was good during stage one, but not all the Abnegation, are like him. If she didn't beat Molly, she would have gotten cut.

But there were two Dauntless-born initiates that made her look skilled before that.

"I should go. Christina wants updates on Uriah," says the Stiff.

She stands up and walks away without looking back.

* * *

Two hours later, they move Isobel to another room in the hospital, one with a observation window. Before that, they mentioned something about a ventilator, but that must be for Uriah.

"She can breathe on her own, which is good," I'm told by one of the physicians. "She has a gash on her leg, but that was fixed up."

Isobel is lying in the bed, wearing a white infirmary garment. Her eyes are currently closed. Her arms are lying by her sides, with an IV connected to her arm. She looks like she could be sleeping.

But she is not. She's in a coma.

"What's her prognosis?" I ask, watching the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest.

"When someone is showing response to stimuli, it doesn't always necessarily mean that they'll wake up," he says to me. "However, it's a _when_, not a _if_. We can't pinpoint when she'll exactly wake up, but we estimate that it might be three to five days. Depending on the extent of her brain damage and how long she's unconscious, the length of her recovery is unknown. The worse we can come up with is moderate swelling of the brain and when she wakes up, mild to little memory loss.

"However, what we can do at this point is to stimulate the brain. Familiar with neurology?"

"Yes," I answer. "You can't just leave the person in a quiet room. Music can be played even when no one is in the room. I prefer classical, that way she can be able to think. Get her thought processes going."

"I can arrange that," he says. He looks at his clipboard before turning to me once more. "Upon examination, we discovered that she was carrying a two week old fetus."

_Was_? The past tense used makes me shudder. "Is the baby okay?"

"We performed an ultrasound. She didn't miscarry, but just to let you know, after she wakes up, when she reaches nine months, she could have complications during labor."

He walks out of the room. Across the hallway, I see them moving Uriah into a room across from Isobel's. I watch as they transport him to a bed and begin hooking him up to machines, primarily the ventilator.

Isobel didn't need one because she can breathe on her own.

I sit in the chair next to the bed and place her hand in mine. Her fingers squeeze mine.

The fact that she can respond to touch, that's one good thing. Her eyes open halfway, but that doesn't mean that she is awake. The more she continues to do that, the more aware she'll become.

"Well, Isobel, crazy shit happened today, but I don't know how to explain it right now," I say.

When someone is in a coma, she can hear what is around her, but she just can't respond back. Patients in comas surprise their loved ones by telling them what they heard.

They can't treat them like they are dead, because they are not.

* * *

After sitting by Isobel's side for an hour, I go to the cafeteria for something to eat. I pick a bowl of soup and when I sit down with it, I wolf it down.

I didn't realize how actually hungry I am until I stuffed the hot contents in my mouth. You don't feel hungry when full of apprehension.

"Having a difficult time?" I hear Amar ask. I look up to see him standing across from me.

I put the plastic spoon in the cup and set the cup down.

"You would be if your romantic partner was in a coma," I say.

"At least there is hope for her waking up, right?" he asks.

"They give her three to five days, depending on the extent of her brain damage," I reply as Amar sits down.

"The year before you and Four were initiates," begins Amar, "during the first day of stage one, this Candor transfer beat an Erudite transfer into a coma. She woke up the next day."

"Probably woke up disoriented," I say.

"For a few hours, but she recovered," says Amar.

Thing is, the recovery depends on how long the patient is in a coma and the extent of the brain damage.

* * *

The casualty list is released over the intercom at the appointed time. Among them was Theodore Matthews.

Isobel's brother.

From the years I knew him before my transfer to Dauntless, I knew that he would become a Candor. He had it written all over him. From his reading on body language to dribbling the words from his mouth without checking them. He was Erudite smart too.

Since Isobel can hear, I guess she already knows. I'll inform her anyway about her brother's death when she is coherent after she wakes up.

The corridors of the hospital are almost devoid of people, except for the occasional janitor.

When I arrive in the corridor where Isobel and Uriah are currently present, I look into the observation window that looks into Uriah's room. If it weren't for that ventilator that he is hooked up to, he would look like he was asleep. That he might wake up at any moment and say some stupid joke reminiscent of his obnoxious brother.

His brother is in the city, unaware what happened. I doubt that the Bureau would give themselves away anyway.

I turn away from the observation window and walk to the door leading to Isobel's room. Fortunately, they followed on my request when it comes to music and instrumental music is playing in the room. I don't remember the name of this piece but I think it's by some long dead guy named Alexander Borodin.

Isobel has her eyes closed currently, both her hands to her sides. She would look peaceful if not for the coma she is in.

They interrogated the participants of that attack earlier, so they must be finished questioning them. I doubt that Four received a serious punishment, considering that he probably didn't know the master plan. he wasn't a good judge of character anyway.

"Hey," I tell Isobel, sitting in the bed next to her.

* * *

**I'm not a medical expert, and I tried doing research when it comes to comas. Just bear with me on this. However, since Uriah was in a deep coma and they didn't know if he would wake up, he probably had to be hooked to a ventilator as well.**


	42. Chapter Forty Two: Eric

Due to what happened yesterday, I don't have to work too many hours. I work this morning but I have the time to myself this afternoon.

First thing in the morning is a meeting with members of the council and the security team before I start my shift in the second control room. After lunch, I plan on going straight to the hospital and visit Isobel.

I drag myself out of bed and get into the neighboring bathroom. It felt strange last night without Isobel sleeping next to me. It feels strange that the blankets are not being snatched this time.

Strange without the company of another person snuggle right next to you, where you can feel the warmth of her body as it pressed against yours.

I take a five minute shower before putting on some clean clothes before dashing out the door.

* * *

The security team is led to the conference room shortly after I punch in. Sitting around the table are Council members, people around David's age. Not one of them has a genetic flaw in them.

There are three rows of chairs in front of the table and I sit in the front row with Amar and George. The door opens and in comes David, mobilizing himself on an electric wheelchair. His legs in boot casts.

Yesterday, word was going around how the Stiff saved David from the GD rebels. That his injuries could have been worse if it weren't for her. Since she obtained a gash on her forehead and he can't walk, I don't know why, but it screams shield to me.

"Unpleasant sight isn't it?" he says with a faint smile before wheeling himself to the center of the table. "Now, I know every one of you is shaken up by yesterday's events, but we can't sweep another possibility of another attack from the fringe under the rug."

I snort. The damn attack wouldn't have happened in the first place if they weren't dicks towards those with damaged genes.

David ignores me. "That means we have to put extra surveillance on the fringe to prevent another attack like the first to happen again. In two days, we will send a few members of the security team to the fringe to install surveillance equipment. Those working in the second control room, expect more hours where you'll be looking at activity in the fringe. Any volunteers for the visit to the fringe?"

Unsurprisingly, Amar raises his hand. Then George. And I find myself doing so.

"George, Amar, Eric, Ann, Jack, Violet," says David, counting the hands. "Just to remind you: prepare for hostility when you go into the fringe in two days."

I don't doubt it.

* * *

I enter the second control room, my emotions simmering over. My hands clenched in fists.

"Someone is moody," says George as I head to my computer monitor.

"Shut up," I spit out, sitting down. I turn on the screen. I decide to look at the hospital area for ten minutes. In one box, Tori and Christina are in Uriah's room, talking. In another box, I see Isobel's room. She is lying on the hospital bed, her arms strapped to the bed.

What happened that would cause them to restrain her to the bed? Was she tugging on the IVs? Either it was the music playing in the room or the occasional opening and closing of her eyes that was making her more aware.

I exit from the screens and look through another set of screens. In one of them, I see Four walking through the corridor to the main control room, looking downtrodden and crestfallen. From what I heard about his interrogation, he only knew what he was told by Nita and he was ignorant of the master plan. He is on parole, which means that he can't access private rooms and laboratories.

Some say that it's balderdash, that he knew what they were going to do, even though they interrogated the participants with truth serum. However, I'm not surprised if the story of him ignorant of the master plan is true. Four isn't necessarily the best judge when it comes to character half the time.

* * *

On my break, I go to the hospital. Outside Uriah's room, Cara is speaking with one of the main physicians, who looks very grave.

"But stimulation is supposed to help comatose patients," she says. "You're playing instrumentals in Isobel's room. Why not Uriah's."

"Thing is, Miss Cunnigan, Isobel has more chances of waking up then Uriah," he says, sounding just as grave. "When we found Uriah after the explosion, he only had extensor response to pain. Checking his brain activity, however, there is little of it."

"Hopefully he is at least aware of what's around him," says Cara desperately.

"It's possible. However, we'll do an EEG test in a few days and I guarantee you that most of us dread what we will find."

He walks down the hall with his clipboard and Cara returns to Uriah's room, wiping her eyes in the process. I go over to the window and look in there. Currently, Christina and Cara are sitting in the room, with Christina wiping her eyes.

I turn away and look into Isobel's room. In there, are the Stiff and Peter, both of them sitting in the chairs at the other end of the room, far from each other, but I could see their lips moving.

The door is halfway open and I don't care for their conversation until Peter says something.

"Speaking of comas, you would have been in one or worse if Eric didn't call off the fight and push me off the platform during initiation," says Peter.

The Stiff straightens up, disbelief on her features.

"That wasn't Eric, that was _Four_," she insists.

Is she that thick headed? Besides, Four left the room that day and didn't come back to watch the other matches.

"I'm sure you didn't notice that Four left the room," says Peter.

"I knew he did, but I think he came back and told you to quit," argues the Stiff, "because knowing Eric at the time, he would allow you to keep kicking me."

Peter laughs. "No, it was Eric who called it. He wasn't pretty happy with me. He talked to me during lunch, told me that what I did could have cost him his career. I guess it was more personal than that. He hates my guts."

At least he knows that.

"I thought you were his favorite initiate," presses the Stiff.

Peter chuckles as he stands up from his chair. "You be surprised. Oh, here he is, why don't you hear it from him."

He leaves the room and whistles as he walks down the hospital hallway. The Stiff emerges from the room, closes the door all the way behind her, and folds her arms.

"Were you the one that called off the fight between Peter and I?" asks the Stiff.

"Who else would it have been?" I demand. "You can't give Four the credit for everything. Remember that I was also in on that plan to get you and your boyfriend out of Erudite."

"I guess you're right," she says numbly.

"You're not going to defend him?" I ask. She had the opportunity.

"It's just that every time I think of Tobias," she says, like saying his birth name was like a painful stab, "I keep seeing that wall exploding behind Uriah and Theodore."

So, she's going to blame _that_ on Four? Knowing him, his only crime was his lack of judgment.

"Is that what you think?" I demand.

"I warned him and he didn't listen to me!" she shouts. "If he just listened, Theodore wouldn't be dead and cremated, and Uriah and Isobel wouldn't be in comas!"

"The person to blame for that is the rebel that set off the explosive, not someone who dismantled the alarms," I snap at her. "You think he had any hindsight?"

"No, but –" she starts.

"So, even though he had no hindsight and was ignorant of what Nita was really up to, you're still going to blame him for something he has no hindsight for?" I demand. "Resenting Four and shunning him is not going to wake Uriah up and bring Theodore back from the dead."

"Do you hate him for what happened to Isobel?" asks the Stiff.

I snort. "I already hate his guts, but I don't resent Four for what happened. It's not going to wake her up."

I enter Isobel's room, leaving the Stiff in the hallway.

I sit in the chair next to Isobel's bed. I see her head turn to my direction, though her eyes are currently closed.

"Isobel, if only you were awake to see what is happening," I say to her.

* * *

At lunch, I find myself sitting with Amar, George, and Tori at a table. Sitting near them is the Stiff and her friend, who are keeping a good distance from me, though Cara sits in the middle of the gap.

They are busy talking about strategies, being former Dauntless members, though Cara is from Erudite. I stay silent and continue eating my food until Tori says this.

"That's stupid. Someone would have to make sure that the individuals supporting the enemy are out of there."

"Says the woman that just safely assumed that those who didn't support Jeanine were not in Erudite headquarters," I say.

Everyone looks at me. The Stiff nearly falls from her seat.

"Excuse me?" demands Tori.

"If the Erudite stayed in Erudite headquarters, that doesn't necessarily mean that they agreed with Jeanine," I point out.

"But Johanna offered that Amity would be a safe haven," says the Stiff.

"Did you think that Jeanine would have passed that on?" I point out.

"But Zeke was getting the Erudite that were not loyal to Jeanine out of headquarters," says Tori.

"He was until that idiotic stunt of yours of sneaking to Jeanine's private laboratory," I point out.

Tori looks as if she was caught doing something completely stupid and looks at her plate.

"Let me ask you a question: did you come across children in Erudite headquarters?" I ask.

"Abnegation children were being slaughtered by Dauntless under mind control and you did nothing about it," snaps the Stiff.

I pound my fist on the table.

"I'm not proud of participating in it, all right?" I say.

No one says anything.

"Just because people stay where the enemy is, that does not mean they agree with her. It could be that they still wanted to continue their work to receive their paycheck so they could feed their families. As for dependents, well, they have no choice but to stay there. From experience, if you invade a faction's headquarters, you are going to encounter dependents of that faction. I didn't see too many children in the Merciless Mart. Probably most of them were smart enough to hide. Other than that, in my opinion, that attack was poorly executed, poorly planned, and was nothing but a massive temper tantrum over something that didn't happen."

"We planned that attack for a few days," says Tori.

"That's not enough," I say. "While you were going after Jeanine, your brother was right here. And Jeanine knew that. She told you she didn't kill him, but you were blinded by revenge-fueled rage to even listen to her and your friend."

Tori looks down at her plate. Most likely I stumped her.

"You should hear a story of what happened the other day," says George with a giddy smile, trying to defuse the tension. He launches into a story about having problems with a coffee pot a few days ago.

Its lame in my book but it must have been hilarious to them, as they laughed in certain parts.

* * *

After lunch, I decide to drop by to the main control room before heading to the hospital wing. When I arrive there, I see that Four is sitting on one of the benches, looking at the screens. Looks like he didn't sleep last night.

Part of me relishes his anguish. It's something I always wanted to see: Four breaking, becoming agonized to the point where he thinks he lost everything and is guilt ridden. However, part of me feels pity for him.

All he did was dismantling the alarm system, and his girlfriend acts as if he was the one that set off the explosives. I doubt that he wanted Zeke's brother hurt, considering that Zeke is his friend and that he practically was friends with the kid as well.

As if he knew I was there, he turned and looked at me. He glares at me and stands up, his fists balled up.

"Enjoying yourself?" he asks through gritted teeth.

"This is not a month ago, Four," I say.

"Oh really," he says with skepticism.

"Listen, I don't think it's your fault that Isobel and Uriah are in comas," I say.

"Tris and Christina think it is," says Four.

"The way I see it, you had no hindsight," I say. "So, they have no right to act otherwise."

"Shouldn't you be visiting Isobel?" asks Four.

"I'm going to," I say. "Just a reminder: I'm not going to mope heavily over Isobel's coma like you are with the Stiff ignoring you. It's not healthy."

"That's easy for you to say," he says resentfully. "At least you'll get her back when she wakes up. She's not purposely distancing herself from you like Tris is doing to me."

"The world does not revolve around your girlfriend, Four," I say. "If I were you, I would distract myself for a little bit."

"That's what I'm trying to do," he says, gesturing to the screens.

On the prominent screens, it shows the same thing: his mother in Erudite headquarters.

"By watching the parents you hate?" I ask incredulously. With that, I turn and walk away.

Four is sure a masochist. Always wallowing in his misery. Not to mention his frequent trips to his fear landscape every week to face his four fears. I would rather jump into the chasm then face my twelve fears. Twice is enough. I probably would go mad the third time.

My fears were in this order: death, snakes, failure, public humiliation, fire, fear itself, the unknown, frigid cold, powerlessness, reacting out of impulse, being ignored, and romantic rejection.

During my twelfth fear, when I first faced it when I first stepped into the Dauntless compound as an initiate, it wasn't a unknown nameless girl rejecting me. It was _Isobel_, which made it worse. That was because I recently realized that I had feelings for her.

Before we took our final test in initiation, Amar said that our fears would probably change, or the number of fears might add up or decrease over the passage of time, due to relationships and the things that could happen. I have a feeling that my twelfth fear would be replaced with something else. Worse than romantic rejection.

And I don't want to risk going through my fear landscape the third time to see if my twelfth fear has changed. If I did, I don't think I would come out unscathed.

* * *

When I pass through a hallway of the hospital, I see the Stiff and Cara leave Uriah's room, obviously preoccupied with something. I'm surprised they're even friends, considering that the Stiff shot Will in the head.

Shortly, I see Christina leave Uriah's room and she leans against the wall before sliding down. When she looks at me, she slightly scowls.

"Not happy to see me?" I ask.

"Well, it's just that I keep thinking that Uriah might wake up, but if his prognosis is as bad as Cara says, I don't know if he will," she says.

Due to my reputation as a dick to people, they don't think I know how to remedy things in certain situations, because I rarely do.

"Want to hear something amusing?" I ask.

Christina looks up at me, skeptical.

"A year ago, Zeke held a game of Candor or Dauntless in his apartment. Thing is, I crashed the party, but it was worth it. Zeke dared his brother to cover Four's face in whip cream while he was asleep on the couch."

I remember that vividly. Four out like a light bulb while Uriah covered his face with whip cream. The laughter and giggles that filled the apartment when Uriah did the deed. What was priceless was Four's reaction when he put his hand on his face. He nearly punched me because I was laughing so hard that I almost fell from my chair.

"He did?" asks Christina, perking up a little.

"You should have seen the look on Four's face when he woke up," I say. "It was priceless."

"I wish I could have seen that," she says. "Uriah covering Four's face with whip cream."

She laughs slightly before going crestfallen again.

"Every time I see Uriah now, he looks like he might wake up at any moment," she says.

"That's the trouble with comas," I say. "They look asleep, but they are just unresponsive. When you're in a coma, you're just unresponsive. You can hear everything around you, but you're not responsive."

"How do you know so much about comas?" she asks.

"Do you think I'm a Dauntless-born?" I ask her.

"No," says Christina. "I was beginning to think that Four was joking when he said that you originated from Erudite."

"I didn't want to be a mindless brute," I say.

* * *

The next day, my shift is in the afternoon, so I spend most of my morning in the hospital wing. I first go to Isobel's room. I place my hand over hers, rubbing my finger over her palm.

And I talk to her.

"It's been three days since shit happened, and let me say that you are missing the corundum of events that followed," I say. "Four had no hindsight for what would happen, but people act as he did."

Her head is turned to my direction, her eyes halfway open. She's not looking at me. More likely she is staring into space. She's not technically awake. Just becoming more aware.

"Isobel, I wished that you were awake when all this happened," I say. "No one wants to be asleep during this."

* * *

That afternoon, it's only me, George, and a woman named Janet working in the second control room.

"A future councilmember is joining us tomorrow afternoon for our expedition to the fringe," says George as I sit down in front of my computer monitor.

"Who could that possibly be?" I ask, turning on the computer screen.

"The girl who saved David," answers George.

The Stiff? Really? She has been here for barely a week and she's sixteen. Someone has to be of certain seniority to be part of the Bureau Council, and so far, she only fits one qualification.

"Isn't she a bit too young for that?" I ask.

"Well, she saved David from the GD rebels," says George.

I mentally snort. It's like they're treating her like some sort of saint. She didn't save David. She merely used him as some sort of shield.

* * *

I finish my shift in the control room and am about to enter the cafeteria when I hear someone calling my name.

"Eric!" shouts the Stiff.

I turn to see Cara running towards me, with the Stiff, and Christina behind her, looking breathless.

"You've got to get to the hospital wing," says Cara, panting. "It's about Isobel."

* * *

**If you read Veronica Roth's **_**Four: The Transfer**_**, the very first thing that the initiates did was go through their fear landscapes and Eric did have twelve fears because Tobias/Four counted how many fears Eric had.**

**Since people call Tris and Four 'Ten' (Or FourTris), I'm going to call Isobel and Eric 'Twenty-Two', because Isobel has ten fears and Eric has twelve.**


	43. Chapter Forty Three: Isobel

When I woke up, the first thought in my mind was that I was hungry. I opened my eyes and saw that I was in the white room of my dreams, only that it was clearer. I hear the beeping of the heart monitor next to me and hear the soft instrumental music that was playing.

I look down to see that my arms were restrained to the bed and that there was netting surrounding the bed, keeping me from falling off. I look to the other side of the room and see a few people in the room across from the room I'm in.

It takes me a moment to recognize them. Christina, Tris, and Cara. They were sitting in the next room, surrounding a bedridden person hooked up to a ventilator.

Uriah.

Just in that moment, a nurse comes in with a clipboard. She passes over my bed, and looks at the heart monitor, taking notes before setting down the clipboard and she moves to tidy up my blankets.

"I want something hot to eat," I say quietly.

She turns and looks at me, her eyes the size of saucers. She runs to the door and shouts, "She's awake!"

I see Tris, Christina, and Cara run in the room. Tris's eyes widen.

"We got to tell him," says Christina.

_Him_ could only mean one thing. Eric.

How did I end up here? How long was I out?

* * *

Everything was a blur of confusion and noise before I woke up. First I saw seeing the wall next to Uriah explode followed by darkness, then I saw a hazy, unclear image of being in a room with no windows. I couldn't make out words, only the sound of the voice at first.

I heard instrumental music play in the background and I don't know when my hearing cleared but I thought I heard something about Theodore. Something about the casualties of an disaster.

When I heard _his _voice, I wanted to wake up. I wanted to see his face, to kiss him, to have him lie next to me. But I couldn't. My brain wouldn't process that command.

I was in a room with white walls and floor, but I couldn't see the image clearly. It had to be a dream, but I didn't know if it was or not.

People would either talk to me or amongst themselves. I thought I heard Peter and Tris talking to each other. That had to be a dream because I know for sure those two wouldn't have a civil conversation.

When the music played on in the room and every time I opened my eyes, fully or not, I became more aware each time. Aware of my surroundings.

When I woke up, I was in the same room, only now I don't know if I was dreaming or not.

* * *

"Do you know how to eat?"

They hand me a Styrofoam cup with steamy chili and a spoon. I know how to use the spoon. I guide the spoon with my trembling hand into the chili and take a spoonful, scalding my mouth.

"Do you know your first name?" the doctor asks.

I know what it is. I heard it over the period of my dazed, blurry period. Also I remembered having it.

"Isobel," I answer.

"Your last name?"

"Matthews," is the first thing that comes to mind.

"When is your birthday?"

I strain through my memory. I know it's the beginning of the year. It's not long before I find it.

"February 20th," I say.

"Where were you born?"

I remember that one.

"Chicago."

"Do you remember your faction of origin and the faction you chose?"

I haven't forgotten.

"I was born an Erudite and transferred to Dauntless."

"Do you know where you are?"

The first image I see is Eric and I crossing through abandoned territory.

"The Bureau of Genetic Welfare."

"Ms. Matthews, how long did you think you were out?"

When the wall exploded, it was nine in the morning. The clock here says thirty minutes after six in the evening. It must have been out nine hours.

"Nine hours?" I guess.

"Ms. Matthews," he says, adjusting the glasses on his nose, "you were in a coma for three days now."

Three days? Three days?

He says something which I don't catch and I see him leave the room holding his clipboard writing on it.

"Did you hear him? You are to page the nurse if you want to go to the bathroom," I hear Eric tell me.

He's sitting in a chair next to the bed. Looking at him, I see that he didn't lose sleep over me. In novels written before the Purity War, boys angst over their girlfriends being sick or ignoring them.

Eric is not that type of person.

"What? I'm not some crippled person," I say, before taking a spoonful of my chili. It's still hot and spicy, but I don't care. I want solid food in my system. Especially after being hooked up to an IV during my coma.

"You were in a coma for three days," says Eric. "They want to make sure your brain wasn't affected severely by the blast."

I slump in my bed. I hate being dependent on anything. However, I don't have the energy to argue with Eric right now.

"So, what happened after the blast?" I ask him. Straining my memory, I think I remember something spoken over the intercom during one of the periods of darkness. Something about a GD rebel group from the fringe attacking the Bureau. That they were after stores of death serum but were stopped.

"There was a GD rebel group in the fringe," he says. "They used an explosion as a diversion so they could break into the Weapons Lab to steal death serum. They didn't succeed and were apprehended."

"Who was involved?" I ask.

"Prominently Nita and Four," he says. "I didn't remember who else was involved, most likely because I wasn't acquainted with them."

At first I'm confused, confused why Eric would use a number to refer to a person until something surfaces.

Tobias? Abnegation-born turned Dauntless Tobias who cared about the safety of others, involved in a rebel attack?

However, recently while I was still in my coma, Eric told me that people were condemning Tobias for something that he had no hindsight for.

"If he had no hindsight for the aftermath, his role in the attack must have been relatively minor," I say.

Eric doesn't seem surprised by the fact that I knew what he told me. We both know that when someone is in a coma, they can hear and sometimes they respond to natural stimuli, but they are just not responsive.

"He dismantled the alarm system," says Eric, "but the way his girlfriend acts, she treats him as if he were the one that set off the explosives."

Tobias's girlfriend. Tris.

"What happened that made her think that?" I ask.

"Uriah Pedrad was too close to the explosion. They say you were more fortunate because you were a few feet from Uriah when the explosion happened. He hasn't woken up since then," answers Eric.

I look out the observation window. In the room across from mine, I see Uriah hooked to a ventilator.

"Is he going to wake up?" I ask.

"They don't know. In two days they are going to perform a EEG test on him," says Eric. "They are not very optimistic."

If they are not optimistic, he must be brain dead or something.

I stare at my chili, holding the cup. Coming to think of it, Theodore was standing next to Uriah when the explosion happened.

I think I know. They were giving out the names of those that died and I think my brother's name was one of them.

"My brother is dead, isn't he?" I ask.

Eric bites his lip. His hesitation confirms the worst. When people hesitate giving you important information, it's usually bad news.

"Yes," he says.

I don't cry. I don't shake. Instead I just slump against the bed.

Probably because my brain can't process the way I usually handle grief yet.

* * *

After finishing my chili, I page the nurse to help me get to the bathroom. I could see why, because when I stand, my balance isn't steady.

I am to report problems on urinating and pushing out excrement. I don't. Everything functions how it should be.

When passing Uriah's room on the way to my room, I see Christina and Tris sitting by his bed, Christina holding his limp hand. If it weren't for that ventilator he is hooked up to, he would look like he is asleep.

Did I look like I was asleep during my coma?

When I enter the room, I'm helped into one of the chairs at the other corner of the room.

"Do you need anything?" I'm asked. "Like a warm drink."

"Send for Tobias Eaton," I say without thinking.

"You woke up from your coma just an hour ago," I hear Eric tell me.

"No, I want to see him," I say.

The nurse holds her headset to her mouth and says, "Isobel Matthews requested that she wants to see Tobias Eaton. Since he's on parole, I'm not sure if…"

_"If she's requesting for him, it's okay. I'll send for Zoe to go fetch him"_ says a male voice at the other end.

She nods and asks me, "Is there anything else?"

I think of something that Eric gave me after I faced one of my fears during stage two of Dauntless initiation to calm me down.

"Warm milk, please," I say.

She nods before leaving the room.

"Why do you want to see Four for?" Eric asks me.

I try to think of a reason why I would. It takes a second to guess why. I was told that they blamed Tobias for Uriah's coma when he had no hindsight. He probably thinks that I'll blame him for my brother's death. But I don't. I need to assure him.

"I just want Tobias to know that it's not his fault that my brother died," I say, looking at Eric.

We wait for Tobias to come. During that time, Eric pulls his chair next to the one I'm sitting in. He softly holds my hand and places it on his lap. During my coma, I could always tell when I felt a physicians' hand or Eric's hands. My doctor's hands were smooth and dry. Eric's hands are rough with calluses from two years of life at Dauntless.

The familiarity of his hands was soothing.

We wait thirty minutes until I see him. Tobias is walking slowly, looking straight ahead of him. When he gets in front of the door, he doesn't come in until a few seconds later.

The way he stands, I know he's expecting the worse. He's expecting to be told it was his fault that my brother died, that I condemn him for it. But I don't.

I won't.

"May you please leave, Eric?" I ask.

Eric let's go of my hand and rises from his chair. He bumps into Tobias's shoulder on the way out.

"Have a seat, Tobias," I offer.

He pauses before sitting where Eric was seated.

"Listen, I –" he begins.

"It's not your fault that my brother is dead," I answer.

"Then why would you request for me?" he asks.

"Tobias, from what it sounds like, people are condemning you for what you did, acting as if your role in the GD rebel attack was greater than it was."

Tobias raises his eyebrow at me, looking baffled.

"How did you know? How did you know what happened? You were in a coma," he says.

"I heard someone say it through the intercom and Eric told me thirty minutes after I woke up," I answer. "I was aware but I just couldn't respond."

"But the attack landed you in a coma," he answers.

"You had no hindsight," I say, staring at my hands. "Even if you didn't participate, it still would have happened."

The nurse comes in with a mug.

"Here you go," she says, handing me the mug.

I nod as my trembling hands take it.

"Anything else?" I'm asked.

"No," I answer.

"Page us if you need anything," she offers before leaving.

Though my hands are trembling, that does not prevent me from holding the mug without it falling and I take a sip from it.

"I think I should go," he says, standing up. "I don't want to be responsible for tiring you when you woke up just an hour ago."

He rises from his seat and leaves the hospital room without a word.

* * *

Eric carried me to the bed before leaving. That night, I try not to fall asleep at first. Because I thought that if I did, I might not ever wake up.

For the first half of the night, I stared out the window that looks into the hallway, thinking that the light might prevent me from falling asleep. However, my drowsiness takes over and I fall asleep.

* * *

I wake up the next morning, feeling moderately lethargic. The clock says eight in the morning.

As if they knew I awake, a doctor enters the room.

"Good morning, Ms. Matthews, how are you feeling?" he asks me.

"Moderately lethargic," I say.

"That's to be expected," he says. "After you have breakfast, we will be doing physical examinations and brain scans."

"For what purpose?" I ask.

"Do determine the severity of the brain swelling and possible brain damage."

Eric is currently on security duty and since he told me that he was paying a visit to the fringe, I might not see him until after he comes back.

Since I'm lethargic and unsteady from this coma I have been under, I assume it might take some energy out of me.

* * *

After a breakfast of oatmeal with peaches and cream, they did the examinations: used a miniature drum and waved it against my eyes, used a light to check my pupil dilation, among other things before the neurological exams.

First they put electrodes on my head and told me to close my eyes as they did the EEG test. After that a CT scan.

By the time the examinations were over, it was lunchtime, in which I had soup. After clearing up the bowl, I set it on the train.

I'm just going to rest my eyes for a few hours. Hopefully Eric comes by the time I open my eyes.


	44. Chapter Forty Four: Eric

I am one of the first ones to arrive at the entrance of the lobby before we leave for the fringe.

"Have you visited Isobel lately?" asks Amar as I picked up my bulletproof vest.

"Yes, but she was asleep," I answer. I didn't stay too long, as I didn't want to disturb her. Shortly afterwards, I met with the doctors for her examinations. It wasn't as bad as they expected but they give her at least a month to normally function. She can eat and go to the bathroom, but while she can stand, her balance isn't stable.

"There she is," says Amar as the Stiff approaches us, looking crestfallen. "Here, I'll get your vest, Tris."

"My…vest?" she asks, confused.

"Bulletproof vest. The fringe is not all that safe," he says, and I see Amar reach into a crate near the doors, sorting through the black vests, as if trying to find the right size. He just shrugs and approaches the Stiff with one slightly big for her. "Sorry, not much variety here. This will work just fine. Arms up."

He helps her into the vest, tightening the straps to her sides.

"I didn't know you would be here," says the Stiff.

I snort and say, "When you live in the Bureau, you have to have a job."

"What he said. Well, what did you think I did at the Bureau? Just wandered around cracking jokes?" He smiles. "They found a good use for my Dauntless expertise. I'm part of the security team. So are George and Eric. Isobel is on leave until she recovers after her coma. We usually just handle compound security, but any time anyone wants to go to the fringe, I usually volunteer."

"Talking about me?" asks George, approaching the Stiff. "Hi, Tris. I hope he's not saying anything bad."

George puts his arm across Amar's shoulders, and they grin at each other.

"We don't normally give potential future council members weapons, because they have no clue how to use them, but it's pretty clear that you do," says Amar.

"It's really all right," she answers. "I don't need –"

"No, you've probably a better shot than most of them," George says. "We could use another Dauntless on board, since Isobel is rehabilitating from her three day coma. Let me go get one."

The Stiff probably has a phobia of guns ever since she shot her friend in the head. She could have shot his hand instead but when someone is threatened, they react out of panic and take drastic measures to defend themselves.

That's just a part of human nature.

A few minutes later we are approaching the truck, which contains surveillance equipment. If the Bureau wants to avoid another attack originating from the fringe, they should stop act like bigots. Jack and Violet take the front seats; George, Ann, and I sit in the middle: Amar and the Stiff are sitting in the back.

We get around the stacks of equipment and sit in the seats. George, who is sitting next to me, peers over the equipment and smiles at Amar and the Stiff as Jack starts up the engine.

The truck drives away from the front door and through the compound before reaching the fence. The gate opens. Jack speaks with the officer at the outer fence, informing him about our plans and what is in the vehicle before driving into abandoned territory.

"What is the purpose of this patrol?" asks the Stiff. "Beyond showing me how things work, I mean."

"We have always kept an eye on the fringe, which is the nearest genetically damaged area outside the compound. Mostly just research, studying how the genetically damaged behave," Amar says. "But after the attack, David and the council decided we needed more extensive surveillance set up there so we can prevent an attack from happening again."

I mentally scoff. When you oppress a certain group of people to the breaking point, of course they are going to lash out.

We pass by ruin. A long time ago, these buildings housed people, going on about their normal lives. Normal. It's a word you're trying to understand after finding out that you lived in a virtual prison pretending to be a functioning society. What I thought was normal weeks ago, is not normal actually.

"So you believe it all? All the stuff about genetic damage being the cause of…_this_?" the Stiff asks.

"You don't?" Amar says. "The way I see it, the earth has been around for a long, long, time. Longer then we can imagine. And before the Purity War, no one has ever done _this_, right?"

"I don't know," is her answer. "I find it hard to believe that they didn't."

"Such a grim view of human nature you have," Amar answers.

For someone has been hunted down relentlessly because she had traits for three factions, of course she would.

He continues. "Anyway, if something like that had happened in our history, the Bureau would know about it."

Or maybe they want to keep it under the wraps in order to continue their bigotry.

Amar and the Stiff end their conversation and we ride in silence for a while. Going through abandoned territory is like you're in some dystopian fiction novel.

If our reality was fiction, it would be considered dystopia. In Chicago, we never read fiction taking place in dystopian societies, but I have read the definition of dystopia.

"We're almost at the fringe," George calls to the back. "We're going to stop here and advance on foot. Everyone take some equipment and set it up – except Amar, who should just look after Tris. Tris, you're welcome to get out and have a look, but stay with Amar."

That truck stops and I hear Amar shove the doors open. I take my share of equipment and leave the truck with George and Ann.

"Has Four told you about the fringe?" I ask the Stiff.

"Yeah, but I think he was exaggerating a little," she says.

"You'll be surprised," I say before going ahead of the group.

Upon arrival, I approach the east area at the fringe. Close enough to get some good surveillance but hidden enough so that those struggling day to day here don't see me.

I set up the equipment and log the coordinates from the tablet so that they transfer to the equipment.

When I log the last coordinate, I hear gunshots before I hear George shout, "Help!"

George better has not done anything stupid, like setting up the equipment in plain view. Amar must have heard it, but it's wise to use backup.

I leave my post and run to where I have heard the commotion. From the ensuing shouts and the sound of equipment being smashed, I locate the altercation to a courtyard. I keep myself hidden between two makeshift homes but manage to get a good view.

A tall, gangly boy, probably no older then fourteen, is pointing a gun at George. A small group is surrounding the kid, where they are distributing the equipment George was carrying earlier and they are completely defacing it.

"Put the gun down," says George.

"No!" the boy answers. "Went to a lot of trouble to get this, not gonna give it up now."

"Then just…let me go. You can keep it."

"Not until you tell us where you've been taking our people!" the boy demands.

"We haven't taken any of your people," says George. "We're not soldiers. We're just scientists."

"Yeah, right," the boy says. "A bulletproof vest? If that's not soldier shit, then I'm the richest kid in the states. Now tell me what I need to know!"

I start to think of ways how I can create some sort of diversion until I see the Stiff emerge, pointing her gun at him

"Hey!" she shouts.

Everyone turns at once but the boy still has the gun pointed at George.

"I've got you in my sights," she says. "Leave now and I'll let you go."

"I'll shoot him!" shouts the boy.

"I'll shoot _you_," she says. "We're with the government, but we aren't soldiers. We don't know where your people are. If you let him go, we'll all leave quietly. If you kill him, I guarantee there _will _be soldiers here soon to arrest you, and they won't be as forgiving as we are."

I see Amar emerge into the courtyard and I do the same shortly after him. Someone in the crowd screeches, "There are more of them!" And everyone scatters. The boy pointing the gun at George runs into the nearest aisle, leaving the five of us alone. The Stiff still holds the gun to her face.

Amar hugs George.

"Still don't think genetic damage is to blame for any of these troubles?" Amar asks her.

The Stiff walks past one of the makeshift homes. She turns to Amar and says, "No, I don't."

* * *

By the time we get back to the truck, Jack and Violet are setting up one of the surveillance cameras that haven't been stolen by the dwellers from the fringe. Violet has one of the tablets in her hands and she reads the numbers to Jack.

"Where have you guys been?" Jack asks.

"We were attacked," George says. "We have to leave now."

"Luckily, that's the last set of coordinates, Violet says. "Let's get going."

We pile into the truck again. Amar draws the doors shut once everyone is in and I sit in my old seat between George and Ann.

"It's the Abnegation in you," I heard Amar tell her. "That makes you hate that place. I can tell."

It's not just the Abnegation. I remember when I first visited the fringe with Isobel. When she saw the living conditions, she looked completely mortified. Being repulsed by those types of living conditions is not just something that an Abnegation would feel.

"It's a lot of things in me," she answers.

"It's just something I noticed in Four, too. Abnegation produces deeply serious people. People who automatically see things like need," he says. "I've noticed that when people switch to Dauntless, it creates some of the same types. Erudite who switch to Dauntless tend to turn cruel and brutal. Candor who switch to Dauntless tend to become boisterous, fight-picking adrenaline-junkies. And the Abnegation who switch to Dauntless become…I don't know, soldiers, I guess. Revolutionaries.

"That's what he could be, if he trusted himself more," he adds. "If Four wasn't plagued with self-doubt, he would be one hell of a leader, I think. I always thought that."

"I think you're right," she answers. "It's when he's a follower that he gets himself into trouble. Like with Nita. Or Evelyn."

I doubt that the Stiff knew what baggage there was in having a relationship with someone coming from an abusive environment. Four is a broken case of work and I'm surprised that she didn't notice it. When they got together, they knew each other for like three weeks. Isobel and I got together earlier then that but that was because we knew each other before I transferred.

The Stiff and Amar talk about Four, and Amar ends it with telling her that relationships have its problems.

No one talks during the rest of the ride. It starts to snow by the time we arrive back at the Bureau. It will be gone tomorrow. The Stiff hands her bulletproof vest to Amar before leaving into the compound.

She disappears around the corner to the corridor that leads to the hotel lobby and I go in my own direction, heading to the hospital. I pass by Uriah's room. Unsurprisingly Cara, Christina, and Tori are in there, visiting him.

Entering Isobel's room, I see that she is finishing her dinner. Looking up at me, she smiles, but it's a tired smile.

"Was the fringe still the same?" she asks.

"Yes, but after the attack, there's some paranoia," I say.

"That's not surprising," she says. She looks up at me. "Eric, am I pregnant?"

On the day of the attack, I was told that she might have some minor memory loss, and I was hoping that this wasn't one of them.

"You're almost three weeks along," I say.

She looks placid before looking down. She pauses before saying, "How could I have forgotten?"

"You were in a coma for three days," I say. "They said you might have suffered from memory loss."

"I am told that I didn't miscarry," she says, starting to tear up. "But what if something happens later on? I could have complications because of this."

Her shoulders shake and I set the tray of food aside before I sit down on the bed.

"Everything is going to be okay," I assure her, wrapping my arms around her. "It's all going to be okay."

She holds on to me as she cries into my shoulder. I run my hand over her back, trying to soothe her.

"And Theodore," she says, sobbing harder. "I never told him. He'll never know that he would become an uncle."

I just hold her, trying to soothe her.


	45. Chapter Forty Five: Isobel

**There's going to be some flashback sequences, with one taking place between the gap between chapters 17 and 18.**

* * *

Eric lies with me that night. The normalcy of it is comforting.

To feel his warmth against my own. To smell him. I wonder how he thought of my absence as well.

I have no family left. My parents are dead, as is Theodore. But Eric and I will have our family to make. With our child.

When you lose your family, the loss is difficult, but in the end, you pick up the pieces and create a new family. Something they taught in Erudite, especially when it came to _Faction before Blood_.

* * *

_Two Years Earlier: Age 14,_

_ My hand rests on the spine of a book. I look at the written words on the pages as the fingers of my other hand runs on the spines of books in the bookshelves at Erudite headquarters. I pull a book from the shelf and look at it. A book on self-defense. _

_I shut the book I'm holding, and I place it back where I found it before retreating to a alcove containing the sleek, white leather chairs. There's only my brother and one of the Erudite initiates, who is preoccupied with reading a Sociology textbook._

_I take the chair next to my brother._

"_Anything interesting?" I ask him._

"_Only reading what Mrs. Schwartz assigned us," sighs Theodore. "Only that the paragraph in the Biology textbook was a gross oversimplification of how the genetics of personality traits work that I had to refer from a book specifically about the genetic aspect of personality traits."_

"_Only a Erudite would do it right," I say, still immersed in my book._

"_Hopefully that will get Peter Hayes from Candor to shut up," he says, closing his book. "Let's see what Will is up to."_

"_He better not try exploding the laboratory again," I say. "Last time he almost did, he got in trouble with Cara and Aunt Jeanine."_

_That was two months ago. Will combined fairly explosive chemicals that the vial shattered and nearly blew the laboratory up. Cara didn't hesitate to scold him while Aunt Jeanine just placed her forehead in her hand and shook her head at first. She gave him a scolding later on, telling him that his stupidity and reckless behavior could have cost his life and others._

_Theodore and I leave the library and head upstairs to where the laboratories are at and we see Will turning the corner, looking bored._

_Not performing your dangerous experiments, Will?" I ask._

"_No, the moment I got there, Frederick Lovelace kicked me out, and he said that he and Isidor were using it for their initiation assignment," says Will._

"_Good thing Eric is at Dauntless," says Theodore, ", he'd be just as pushy."_

"_He seemed intimidating anyway," I say. "Well, let's see what my mother made for dessert tonight."_

_We leave Erudite headquarters and just as we pass Millennium Park, I see the train traveling from a distance._

* * *

_Three years earlier: Age 13,_

_I walked through the snow, carrying my books closely to my long blue, winter overcoat. The snowflakes fell lightly as I see the maintenance crew shovel the sidewalk to Erudite headquarters._

"_Isobel!" I heard Eric call out._

_I turn to see him running towards me._

"_What are you doing out in this cold?" I ask. "Your mother will not be pleased if you get pneumonia."_

"_I was wondering if you could lend me __**The Development of the Brain**__," he says. "It's for Advanced Biology."_

"_Yes, I will lend it to you," I say. "I'm not reading it now."_

_We both walk to my house, shaking the snow off our boots before venturing further before putting my coat on the hook. He follows me up the stairs to my room._

_It doesn't take long to find the book. It's nestled in the second bookshelf from my door. When I pull it out, something falls from the pages._

"_Let me pick that up for you," he offers, picking up the item that fell from the floor. He looks at for a second before handing it to me._

"_Here's the book," I say, handing him the book as I take the pamphlet from his hand._

"_Thank you," he says. "I'll give it back to you in a week."_

_When he leaves, I look at the pamphlet that fell from the pages. _

_**Self-Defense: The Basics**_

_I'm going to have to hide these in the paneling of my walls next time._

* * *

_Five Years Earlier: Age 10_

_Eric, Theodore, and I sit outside, reading in one of those open areas of grass reserved for intellectual purposes._

"_Who's going to take Norton's place?" asks Theodore._

"_Right now they are giving his closest colleagues IQ tests, to see if one of them is fit," says Eric._

"_It might be Randolph Granger," Theodore pipes up. "He's one of Erudite's head scientists."_

"_Most likely it might be Jeanine Matthews," says Eric._

"_What makes you think that?" asks Theodore._

"_Your aunt was his assistant," says Eric. "The person working closest to Norton is the most intelligent."_

"_I'm still hoping for Dr. Granger," replies Theodore._

"_Oh, so you could date Rosalie, your girlfriend?" asks Eric. "Don't try to deny that you like her."_

"_It doesn't give you the right to tease me about it," says Theodore._

"_Oh, you do like her," Eric teases._

"_Yes," says Theodore, who freezes like he made a mistake._

"_You know, this isn't Candor, Theodore," says Eric._

_Theodore gives Eric a sour look before taking his book and leaving._

"_You shouldn't have done that, Eric," I say, not looking from my book._

"_He'll get over it," he says, closing his book. "Let's go over to my house and see what my mother is making for lunch."_

_He stands up and I hesitantly follow after him._

* * *

_Dauntless initiation: Age 16_

_Eric and I both lay in his bed after our play of sex. Well, it technically wasn't sex. More like heavy necking in our underwear. Our clothes lay scattered on the floor next to the bed._

_I lay close to him, my head resting against his bare chest, as he plays with my hair._

"_How many fears did you have?" I ask._

"_Twelve," he answers._

"_Who had the lowest fears in your initiation class?" I ask._

"_Do you think I want to answer that question?" he says, but the resentment in his voice makes the answer obvious._

"_How many fears did Tobias have?" I ask._

"_There is a reason they call him __**Four**__," he replies resentfully. _

"_So…four fears?" I ask._

_Eric snorts. "That must be a Divergent thing. Who only has four fears?"_

"_Maybe because since he was from Abnegation, he didn't know what else to fear," I deduce._

"_Could be," says Eric. "Still. Four Fears. The average is ten to fifteen."_

"_I faced seven fears during stage two," I say. "I could have a few more than that."_

"_I know you can resolve them just fine," he says. "If you don't know, just grit your teeth and try to regulate your breathing until your heart rate normalizes."_

"_Is that something you did when you faced your fear landscape?" I ask._

"_Yes, during the first time," he says._

"_You went through it twice?" I ask._

"_When I first arrived in Dauntless, we took a trip to our fear landscapes," Eric explains. "I went first and Four went last."_

_They must have had a different instructor, obviously since Tobias was a initiate fresh out of Abnegation, but seriously, going through your fear landscape twice. Once would be enough._

"_I think I might go mad by the second time," I say._

"_Twice is enough for me," he says. "If I went through my fear landscape the third time, I might not come out unscathed."_

* * *

The next morning, I see that Eric isn't at my side. Probably left for work. I grab the pager and press the green button for breakfast. The red button is for emergencies; the green button is for meals and other types of necessities.

I look over to the room across from my room. There are two people in the room with Uriah: one attaching the electrodes to his head and the second readying up the machine.

Uriah's EEG test. I heard that they have been dreading the outcome of the results.

My nurse, Kathy I heard it is, enters the room with my tray and another doctor, holding what looks like leg braces and a walking stick.

"After you eat, we need to fit you with the braces," she says.

I know why. That way I can have some mobility after my three day coma.

I eat my cornflakes cereal, washed down with orange juice before they fit me into the braces.

They go up to three inches above my knee and when I walk, my stance isn't as wobbly.

When my physician team leaves the room, Peter slips in the room.

"Someone looks dreadful this morning," he says.

"You would too if you had been in a coma for three days," I spit out.

"Shouldn't people who have come out of comas have unsatisfactory comprehension?" he asks.

"Everyone is different, Peter," I say.

"That's rather undeniably true," he says, dropping into the seat next to the bed.

"Were you and Tris talking or was it just my imagination?" I ask him.

"It actually happened," he says.

"Last time I checked, you two wouldn't engage in civil conversation," I point out.

"Well, I didn't intend on seeing her." Peter shrugs. "Tris came in while I was visiting you and we ended up talking."

"I don't clearly remember the conversation," I say.

"It should be noteworthy to say that Tris actually thought that her boyfriend called off the fight during initiation," says Peter. "We all know that it was Eric."

It doesn't surprise me that Tris would think it was Tobias that called off the fight between her and Peter. She never thought that Eric was capable of doing anything good when she met him. Especially after Eric said that the fight ends when someone is beaten unconscious.

"And on top of that, she thought that I was his favorite initiate," says Peter. "He hates my guts."

I know that Eric would not broadcast his hatred of an initiate to everyone. Though Tobias knew that Eric hated Peter with a passion.

"What gave her that impression?" I ask.

"Probably when Four and Eric were choosing teams for capture the flag," says Peter. "I knew he was going for bulk regardless whether he liked the initiate or not."

* * *

I take a walk around the hospital, just to stretch my legs before it was lunchtime. After lunch, I decide to visit Uriah, where I find Peter already there, sitting at the chair at the other end of the room.

"You know, Tris will think you have no right visiting Uriah," I say, as I sit in the chair next to his bed.

"I don't care what she thinks," says Peter. "Just because I wasn't his friend, that doesn't mean that I can't visit him."

"True," I say.

Peter looks at Uriah. "Sometimes I wonder what it's like being knocked out into a coma. Losing your memories in the process."

"Why would you wish for something like that?" I demand.

"Probably so I can redeem myself in a way," he says. "I'm sure that Tris wishes it was me unconscious and hooked up to a ventilator instead of Uriah."

The hissing of the ventilator fills the silence. I admit, I dislike Peter, but I don't think he should wish to lose his memories. Eric would think that Peter was being a coward for doing so.

Funny how people can have different views of cowardice and bravery.

Tori and Christina walk in the room, deep in conversation when Christina stops as she sees Peter.

"What gives you the right?" she asks, giving Peter the stink eye.

"Just because Peter wasn't Uriah's friend, that doesn't mean he can't visit him," I snap. "I don't know Uriah personally and I'm visiting him."

Christina opens her mouth to say something until the door opens behind her and Tori. A doctor comes in carrying a clipboard. He looks particularly grave. No, grave to where someone's heart flat lined.

"What were the results of his EEG?" asks Tori curiously.

"If you looked at the graph, there's a flat line," he says. "There's no life in him."

"Which means…" begins Tori, paling.

"Since there is no brain activity and no brain waves, he's not going to wake up."

Christina stifles a sob with her hands. Uriah is virtually deceased.

"Thing is, we have to unplug him in five minutes," says the doctor.

"No! Please! Don't unplug him!" Christina begs.

"He could only be on life support for so long," replies the doctor sternly.

"He has family back in the Chicago Experiment," says Christina. "They need to know."

He considers for a moment before he answers, "I'll give you four days to tell them."

* * *

I decide to take a nap before dinner started, that way I can have some energy that way I could walk around the hospital more.

When I wake up, Tris walks in.

"What brings you here?" I ask as she sits in the chair beside the bed.

She gulps asking, "Remember the night before the attack? When you gave me a disc and told me to go to you about Jeanine afterwards?"

Surprisingly, I remember that night. Tris needed to hear every word I said. Someone had to call her out.

I nod.

"I watched the footage with Tobias last night," says Tris. "After I came back from the fringe. You were right. I was completely ignorant. I thought Caleb knew that Jeanine was torturing me. I thought he knew and he didn't."

"Tris, sometimes things happen behind the scenes," I say. "What we see with our eyes is only half the story."

"I know that now," says Tris, looking at her hands. "And I told Caleb that it was simple leaving Erudite. It wasn't."

"Eric and I had to sneak around when we planned to go beyond Amity," I say. "It took days to get everything together and planned."

Tris looks down at her hands.

"You know what Caleb told me?" I say. "He told me that he wanted to prove your father wrong about my aunt. He wanted to form his own opinion of her. That's a good quality to have, but that's what got Caleb into trouble."

Tris is silent for a moment. Probably using what I just said as food for thought.

"You were her niece. You knew how she operated," says Tris. "How did she operate?"

"Let's say you transferred from Abnegation to Erudite," I say. Tris nods. "You want to form your opinion of the faction and Jeanine Matthews. Early on, she seems to be a nice person. You would think _I don't understand what the fuss was about. She isn't that terrible_. And that gets them in trouble, because her poisonous weed of persuasion and manipulation is starting to crawl all over you. My aunt would use your weaknesses before she persuades and manipulates you. She goes for your soft emotional spots, what you fear. Since Caleb was from Abnegation, she wanted to gain his trust and on the fourth day of Erudite initiation, she told him that your father was originally from Erudite and that they were friends."

"By doing that, she turned into a person Caleb thought he could trust and who he thought was trustworthy," Tris concludes. "She already threw a lasso over him."

"After she gains your trust and she sees that you're susceptible, that's when she starts the persuasion," I say. "Because she deemed herself trustworthy, you believe her. One of the few methods of persuasion is logical arguments, backing up her arguments with evidence, and expertise. You believe her because she is the expert and intelligent. Once you further proved yourself susceptible, that's when the second stage of her attack begins: the manipulation. She manipulates you, even going far as threatening you or blackmail. My aunt's favorite threat tactic was using the unknown to get the subject to do what she wanted. They would do it because they didn't want to learn what the repercussions were."

Tris's eyes widen.

"She did that to Eric and she did the same to Caleb," I say. "Before the Abnegation attack and during your captivity, your brother found out that he couldn't turn back."

"There was this boy who was in the same initiate class as Caleb," says Tris. "He told me that I shouldn't judge Caleb too harshly. That Jeanine was extraordinarily persuasive to those who are not naturally suspicious and that he was always naturally suspicious. You know what stupid thing I did? I said that I was suspicious too. I didn't even ask about how Jeanine got to Caleb."

"Now that you know, how do you feel?" I ask.

"Ignorant and selfish," says Tris. "You were right. My parents would hate me for this."

"Tris, Dauntless brings out the worst of us," I say. "I have seen it during initiation."

Tris nods, as if acknowledging what I said.

"I'm sorry about Theodore," says Tris. "He became something of a friend when I first met him at the Merciless Mart. He was one of the first to remind me that not all the Erudite are bad."

"Last thing I recall, he didn't like the Abnegation," I say.

"He teased me somewhat about being from Abnegation," says Tris. "But it was more playful." She pauses before saying, "The day after the invasion in the Merciless Mart, I asked him if he knew Eric and he said something about him that I wish I heeded."

"What did he say about Eric?" I ask.

"That Eric is different around certain people," says Tris. "That he is complicated. That I shouldn't just take the opinion of someone who hates his guts. Guess what I did?"

The answer is obvious. When Tris first saw Eric, he most likely didn't give a good impression of himself. You wouldn't if you sat next to someone who hated your guts and vice versa.

"I guess to Christina, Four and Eric were probably no different from each other," I say.

I expect her to defend Tobias, asserting that he and Eric were completely different. Instead, Tris laughs as if amused.

* * *

Tris leaves just as dinner is brought to me, and halfway through eating, Eric enters the room, holding a black box.

"After you eat, I have to inoculate you," he says.

"Against what?" I ask.

"They're doing a memory reset in all four experiments," says Eric. "Who knows that some idiot might accidentally wipe the memories of those living in the Bureau as well?"

"Things have gotten that bad?" I ask.

"Yesterday, the Allegiant attacked the factionless weapon storehouse," he says. "After that, Four's mother found stores of death serum in Erudite headquarters. The Bureau is afraid that she'll retaliate."

I could understand why the Bureau would want to reset the memories of those living in Chicago but all four experiments? That didn't seem fair.

I finish my soup. When Eric takes the syringe from the box, I move my hair out of the way and tilt my neck just as I did during stage two of Dauntless initiation. I feel the needle ease itself into my neck and it's not long before he places the bandage over the injection sight.


	46. Chapter Forty Six: Eric

Two hours before dinner, Four comes and talks to the both of us. Four wanted to go to the city with Peter, Tori, and Christina so that they can inoculate their family members before the memory wipe that will affect all the four experiments. Unsurprisingly, Amar couldn't say no to that one. We are to meet with Four, Peter, Christina, Tori, and George during dinner to discuss some plans. Thing is, I'm tagging along too.

Not that I wanted to. I have no interest in returning back to that virtual prison. However, I know there is more to this, which is why I stopped Four while he was on his way to the dormitory in the hotel.

"There better be more to what you were saying," I say, "because I'm not going in that wretched city experiment until I know everything."

Four looks around; making sure that no one is present before saying, "It would be best to inoculate Isobel after dinner."

"What does she have to do with this?" I ask incredulously.

Four fills me in on the Stiff's, Cara's, and Matthew's plan to wipe the memories of those that reside in the Bureau.

"Shit. Is that what the Bureau is planning to all four experiments?" I ask.

"That's crazy, I admit," says Four. "But you better inoculate Isobel just in case they succeed. I know you wouldn't fancy the idea of her not remembering who you are and everything about herself."

I can't deny that nightmare inducing possibility. I don't want the painstaking process of rewriting her life for her.

I have no choice but to agree with this plan.

* * *

I eat dinner with Amar, George, Christina, Tori, Peter, and Four in the cafeteria, between the beverage counter and a row of trash cans. I eat my soup while it was still hot, the crackers becoming soggy from all that moisture.

Amar tells us where and when to meet, then we go to the hallway near the kitchens, that way we're concealed from prying eyes. He takes out a small black box with syringes inside it and gives one to each of us along with an antibacterial wipe.

"What's this?" Christina asks. "I'm not going to inject it into my body unless I know what it is."

I remember when I injected the simulation serum into her after her final test. She looked like that she didn't buy the story about precautionary trackers but made the smart move to keep her mouth shut. The Stiff looked like she didn't buy it either, especially when she asked about how many people went missing.

"Fine." Amar folds his arms. "There's a chance that we will still be in the city when a memory serum virus is deployed. You'll need to inoculate yourself against it unless you want to forget everything you now remember. It's the same thing you'll be injecting into your family's arms, so need to worry about it."

Christina sticks the needle into a vein. Four casually sticks the needle into his neck, and after that Amar does the same, with me following after him, and Tori follows. At first, it looks like Peter is inoculating himself, but I see that he's pretending, after seeing the fluid run down his neck and when he wipes it casually with his sleeve.

Four looks at Peter, obviously deep in thought about Peter pretending to inoculate himself. Hopefully Peter isn't giving Four any ideas.

I admit, I have done some things I am not proud of, but resetting my memory means forgetting everything about myself, including Isobel. Besides, a brave man deals with the guilt of past decisions and the painful memories.

Because purposely erasing yourself to avoid the past is something that only a coward would do.

* * *

Halfway through dinner, I track down Matthew, who gives me a black box containing the inoculation fluid. He's going to inoculate himself and a few others tomorrow anyway. I go to hospital. Isobel is halfway through her dinner when I enter.

"After you eat, I have to inoculate you," I tell her.

"Against what?" she says quizzically.

"They're doing a memory reset in all four experiments," I reply. "Who knows that some idiot might accidentally wipe the memories of those living in the Bureau as well?"

"Things have gotten that bad?" she asks.

"Yesterday, the Allegiant attacked the factionless weapon storehouse," I say. "After that, Four's mother found stores of death serum in Erudite headquarters. The Bureau is afraid that she'll retaliate."

There is comprehension on her features yet I see it in her eyes that she's questioning it. I could see why. I would understand why they want to reset the memories of every living person in Chicago, since things have turned really shitty, but to reset all four experiments is too much. The other three experiments weren't on the verge of the conflict that is plaguing our city.

After Isobel clears her bowl, she tilts her neck and moves her hair out of the way as I prepare the syringe. I stick the needle into her neck and after withdrawing the needle, I place the bandage on the injection area.

"Anything interesting happen today?" I ask, as I sit down in the chair next to her bed.

"They're going to unplug Uriah in four days," she says. "He's not going to wake up. After they performed the EEG, there were no brain waves."

That shouldn't surprise me if his coma was a GCS 4. However, sixteen is too young of an age to die. Too young.

"Is the Bureau going to allow his family to say goodbye?" I ask.

"That's why they gave them four days," says Isobel. "So Christina would tell his family."

Because having them come here would expose the purpose of the foundation of the city we lived in.

"Out of ten transfer initiates, there is only seven left from my initiation class," she says.

One jumped to his death, one got shot during the attack simulation, and the last one got shot after trying to desecrate all the faction bowls.

"When you think of it, the group of Dauntless-born initiates is dwindling in number as well," I say.

* * *

The next morning proves uneventful at best. I did my security round outside the compound. After lunch, I did my shift in the second control room, where I saw the rest of the plans unfolding.

Matthew and Cara pour over a map, discussing different routes to the Weapons Lab. Apparently Caleb is going to set off the memory serum. Thing is, I heard that the intruder would be greeted by death serum in aerosol form.

A suicide mission. Hopefully the Stiff will prove her selflessness and take her brother's place. Because in my book, death does not equal redemption.

There is a last-minute council meeting going on. Of course they are going to talk about the memory reset.

Thirty minutes before I meet with the entourage that will go to the city, I go to the hospital to quickly visit Isobel.

"They're going to have a lock down in a few hours," I tell her. "So, it would be best to stay put."

"When will you get back?" she asks, frowning. I can't blame her. Someone as tough and independent as she is does not like being told that she should stay put. She's no damsel. But since she's still recovery and she has braces on her leg, I doubt she'll be able to get far.

"Whenever I'll get back, you'll be the first person I will see," I tell her.

I softly kiss her lips, and she puts her hands on my chest. Not to push me off, but to balance herself.

* * *

Snow swirls over the pavement outside, floating with the wind. George hands Four a gun and they talk before George leaves. I thought I heard Four tell George to inoculate himself.

Hopefully he'll be smart enough to listen.

I am the first person to enter the truck and I sit at the back behind the first row of passenger seats. Peter opts to sit with me but makes the smart idea to keep a good distance from me. Christina and Tori sits in front of us while Four takes the passenger seat beside Amar.

Amar hands Four a map and tells Four that we're taking the stealth route through the city.

He drives the truck fast through the pelting snow. Since the ground froze over last night, this will be sure to stick. Between the snow flakes, one can see the city lights up ahead.

"I can't believe we're going back," Peter says quietly.

"Me either," Four replies.

"Exactly. Because we're entering a prison of some sorts," I put in.

Amar drives the truck over the train tracks and past the abandoned train car Isobel and I saw on our way in. It's not long before we reach the outer limits of the Dauntless patrols.

I'm sure Amar is unfazed of being back here, but when I step my foot in here one last time, I will be reminded of the life I lead that I thought was normal.

Normal. What is normal anyway?

"Where should we find Zeke?" Amar asks.

"Zeke and his mother joined the revolt," Four replies. "So wherever most of them are is my best bet."

"Control room people said most of them have taken up residence north of the river, near the Hancock building," Amar says. "Feel like going zip lining?"

"Absolutely not," says Four.

Amar laughs.

Zeke often would invite Four to go zip lining and Four would refuse, saying that he is not interested, while in actuality he is afraid of heights.

It takes another hour to get close until we finally see the Hancock building in the distance.

"Um…Amar?" says Christina. "I hate to say this, but I really need to stop. And… you know. Pee."

"Right now?" asks Amar.

"Yeah. It came all of a sudden."

I raise my eyebrow. She definitely has something under her sleeve.

Amar pulls the truck over and Christina jumps out into the falling snow, shouting at us not to look.

Then, the truck slightly bounces from the back. After Christina gets in and Amar starts driving, the truck starts shuddering and starts to bounce.

She slashed the tires.

"Shit," Amar curses from the front. "I can't believe this."

"Flat?" says Four.

"Yeah," he sighs before stopping the truck.

"I'll check it," says Four. He gets out of the truck for a second before coming back. "Both back tires are flat and we only have one spare. We're going to abandon the truck and get a new one."

"Shit!" I hear Amar smack the steering wheel and he stresses that we have no time for this. Four says he knows where he can find a vehicle and that we can go on foot, which appeases Amar.

We all pile out of the truck. According to Amar, we have exactly one hour before they reset the city. Peter opts to go with Four to find a truck and as the two groups part ways, I tell Amar, "I'm going with Four and Peter. Someone needs to watch their backs."

Peter looks like he's preoccupied, which is not a good thing.

Amar nods before heading to the direction of the Hancock building with Tori and Christina. I sprint to catch up with Four and Peter.

"I'm going to stop a revolution," says Four as I join them. He turns to see me. His eyes narrow. "Why are you joining us?"

I lean and whisper, "Because you're not the only one that doesn't trust Peter."

Four eyes me quizzically, like he doesn't buy it but he nods. He turns right and we follow him, with me behind Peter.

* * *

Our feet slip on the snowy pavement as we enter my old stomping grounds. I lived my life here, reading books and gaining knowledge. Wearing blue as I walked down these sidewalks two years before my transfer to Dauntless.

"You didn't inoculate yourself yesterday," Four tells Peter.

"No, I didn't," Peter replies.

"Why not?"

"Why should I tell you?"

Four runs his hand over his back pocket. "You came when me because you know I have the memory serum, right? If you want me to give it to you, it couldn't hurt to give me a reason."

"I'd rather just _take _it from you," says Peter.

"Please," says Four. "You might think you're pretty good at fighting, but you're not good enough to beat me, I promise you."

Peter shoves Four. It's not long before I hold Peter down as Four takes the vial from him.

"You know why you won fights as an initiate?" says Four as he pockets the vial. "Because you're cruel. Because you like to hurt people. And you think you're special, you think everyone around you is a bunch of sissies who can't make tough choices like you can."

I force Peter up his feet, tightening my grip in the process.

"That's why I want it," says Peter, his voice shaky. "I want the serum because I'm sick of being this way. I'm sick of doing bad things and liking it and then wondering what's wrong with me. I want it to be over. I want to start again."

"And you don't think that's the coward's way out?" says Four.

"He has a point," I say. "A brave man never runs away from his past."

"I think I don't care if it is or not," says Peter, ignoring me.

"Don't try to mess with me again," says Four, "and I promise I'll let you reset yourself, when all this is said and done. I have no reason not to."

I roughly shove Peter away from me before we continue through the snow, towards Erudite headquarters.

When we reach glass doors, it's obvious that it's occupied. With factionless no less.

Four makes a disgruntled sound.

"What?" asks Peter.

"I hate it here," says Four. That shouldn't come as a surprise. He practically hates almost everything, being the pessimist he is.

"So what are we going to do, break a window? Look for a back door?"

I snort. What a coward.

"I'm just going to walk in," says Four. "I'm her son."

"You also betrayed her and left the city when she forbade anyone from doing that," he says, "and she sent people after you. People with guns."

"You can stay here if you want."

"Where the serum goes, I go. But if you get shot at, I'm going to grab it and run."

"Or, I could shoot you in the head and make it look like I accidentally pulled my trigger," I say to Peter. I didn't actually mean it. I'm just putting on a show.

Peter shrinks back.

We enter the library of Erudite headquarters. Predictably, they were overly cautious, and it was only at Peter's demand that they allowed us through. One of the factionless leads us to the main conference room where Four's mother is.

"Mind waiting in the hallway?" Four asks us. I don't hesitate, neither does Peter, who exits the room after me and closes the door behind him.

"Are you really going to shoot me?" says Peter.

"I was just putting on a show," I say.

Peter looks at the wall ahead of him.

"What are you planning to do after all this is over?" he asks. "Come back here?"

"I have no interest to," I reply. "Coming back here will be like going back to prison."

It wouldn't be the same, not after everything that has happened. Especially the revelation that we were living in some social experiment, trying to fix genes.

"Where will you and Isobel go then? To a metropolitan area?" asks Peter.

Most likely. Milwaukee so far is the only option.

A few minutes later, Four enters back into the corridor.

"Did you reset her?" Peter asks.

"No," answers Four.

Four hands Peter the vial with the memory serum and directs him to the couch outside of the room.

It's not long before Peter drinks the serum.

Drinking away his identity and memories.


	47. Chapter Forty Seven: Isobel

I sleep for a few hours, curled up against the sheets in the hospital. However, I decide that I couldn't sleep anymore and at three AM, I get up from the bed, my feet touching the floor before rising, my braces making a screeching sound as I straighten my posture.

I take the walking stick and leave the room.

The lights are on, but no one is present.

Not even the occasional janitor.

That's bizarre.

I walk through the corridors of the hospital when Cara approaches me. the side of her face is bruised and there's a bandage on her head.

"Where is everybody?" I ask.

"Do you want to go for a walk with me?" she offers. "I'll tell you."

"Sure," I say.

I walk with her, venturing out of the hospital.

"We released the memory serum into the Bureau," says Cara. "To prevent them from wiping the memories in the city experiment."

I remember what Eric said before he inoculated me.

_"Who knows that some idiot might accidentally wipe the memories of those living in the Bureau as well?"_

"So, this was not some accident?" I ask. "Whose idea was it?"

"Let's just say that we succeeded," says Cara, her voice shaking.

What happened during this that shook her up?

However, I get my answer after we arrive at the airport lobby. Entering the compound are Tobias, Amar, Eric, Christina, Tori, a very confused Peter (confused as in acting like this is the first time he's arriving here), and two people I do not know, though one looks vaguely familiar.

"Where is everyone?" asks Amar.

When the entourage passes the empty security checkpoint, Eric rushes towards me and enfolds me in his arms. I wrap my arms around his neck as he kisses my cheek.

"What is it?" I hear Tobias ask as Eric and I separate.

Cara just shakes her head.

"Where's Tris?" asks Tobias.

"I'm sorry, Tobias."

My throat tightens. That could only mean one thing: someone has died.

"Sorry about what?" Christina demands roughly. "Tell us what _happened_!"

"Tris went into the Weapons Lab instead of Caleb," Cara says. "She survived the death serum, and set off the memory serum, but she…she was shot. And she didn't make it. I'm sorry."

Everyone looks at her with disbelief.

"Is this some sick joke you are playing?" demands Tori. "I doubt Tris is stupid to would engage in a suicide mission."

"No," Christina says, shaking her head. "No way. There has to be some mistake."

Cara's eyes well up with tears.

For some reason, my knees buckle and I feel someone grabbing my waist to prevent me from falling. Christina shouts something and I look to see Tobias, standing still.

Standing still and looking completely dazed.

* * *

Of those that transferred to Dauntless, there were only two Abnegation transfers. When Tris jumped first, I had a feeling that she was going to last initiation. People thought that she wouldn't, that she wouldn't last a chance in a brutal faction.

But she did. She proved them wrong. That's one form of bravery that she had.

Among the initiates, she was a true Dauntless.

So was I.

There is one line in the Dauntless manifesto that reads: _We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another_.

I don't know if she read the manifesto, but she took that one to heart.

* * *

A few hours later, Tobias goes to see Tris's body. I don't join. Instead, Eric and I are in the cafeteria. Caleb is absent. He's probably gone somewhere, hiding from everyone. Grieving.

I want to find him. I want to console him, but I don't know what to say. What can I say, after not reacting properly to the news of my brother's death?

Caleb and I are the sole survivors of our families. I'm the last living Matthews and he is the last living Prior. Only that I will take Eric's surname sometime in the future.

The Matthews name will die down, but Jeanine Matthews's infamous legacy will remain.

* * *

During lunchtime, I eat hamburger. It feels good eating solid food after being fed liquids after my coma. When I stuff the last remaining bite of the hamburger in my mouth, Eric approaches me.

"I met up with Matthew," says Eric. "He's going to make arrangements for us to go to Milwaukee."

"Milwaukee?" I ask.

"You wouldn't want to go back to that poor excuse of a thriving community," he says. "I would be surprised if anyone would."

I could see what Eric means. It wouldn't be the same going back to Chicago. It would be like entering tangles of lies which we were taught to believe.

"Besides we could use a clean slate," says Eric. "Better to raise our child that way."

I see what he means. I too don't want to raise our child in the past, because we would be reminded of the lives we led. Lives where we were separated by a particular virtue.

A clean slate is what we need after all that has happened.

* * *

Days pass as people slowly recover from the memory serum that wiped their memories. Those lost in the haze were gathered into groups and given the truth: that everyone is different, that genes are different, but neither damaged or pure or even neutral. They are also given the lie: that their memories were erased because of a freak accident, and that they were on the verge of lobbying the government for equality for GDs.

As Matthew promised, he helped make arrangements for me and Eric to make our transition to Milwaukee. The housing market has reserved a home in our name, under Matheson. Once we arrive, we'll be given a bank account, and a list of job opportunities.

In three days we will leave for Milwaukee. Eric is going back to our apartment at Dauntless tomorrow to pack our belongings tomorrow.

Meanwhile in the city, Johanna Reyes, former representative of the Amity and former leader of the Allegiant, is arranging transportation for those who want to leave and for those who want to enter the city.

Today, they are taking down the sculpture at the lobby and I sit at the hospital with Christina, where Uriah's brother and mother are keeping their last vigil over him.

"So you and Eric are leaving for Milwaukee in three days?" says Christina.

"Yeah," I say. "It wouldn't be the same anyway if we went back."

"If all this was some whacked up dream, you would have been a great Dauntless leader," says Christina.

"Really?" I ask.

"I didn't know you long, but you have the qualities of a Dauntless leader," says Christina. "You are not afraid to stand up for others and you are not afraid to call people out for bullshit. Or believing in bullshit."

"Like the one time I called you and Will out for believing Peter," I say.

"You would have been someone not to be messed with," says Christina. "Ruthless but honorable at the same time."

Ruthless and honorable. I wonder if the Dauntless had any struggle with that.

* * *

When they make the decision to unplug him, Christina rushes to fetch Tobias and Cara. Standing outside the room, looking into the window is Evelyn, Tobias's mother, who stands next to me. Inside the room, Uriah's mother and brother sit either side of him, holding either hand. Standing by them is a doctor with a clipboard and a wheelchair bound David. Standing near Zeke is Tori, looking clearly emotional.

I hear four pairs of running footsteps and look to see Tobias, Cara, and Eric behind Christina. At first, Tobias looks at Uriah, his expression tired and grief stricken. His mother sets an hand on his shoulder and he yanks it away.

When he sees David, his eyes burn with rage.

"What is he doing here?" Tobias demands.

"He's still technically the leader of the Bureau, at least until they replace him," Cara says from behind. "Tobias, he doesn't remember anything. The man you knew doesn't exist anymore; he's good as dead. _That _man doesn't remember kill –"

"Shut up!" yells Tobias. After David signs the clipboard, he pushes himself to the door. I see it in Tobias before the door opens and seconds later, Evelyn and I are restraining him before he makes a attempt to jump David.

"Tobias," Evelyn says. "Calm. Down."

"Why didn't someone lock him up?" Tobias demands as he breaks from our hold.

"Because he still works for the government," Cara answers. "Just because they've declared it an unfortunate accident doesn't mean they've fired everyone. And the government isn't going to lock him up just because he killed a rebel under duress."

"A rebel," Tobias repeats. "That's all she is now?"

"Was," Cara says softly. "And no, of course not, but that's what the government sees her as."

"Guys, they're doing it," says Christina.

In Uriah's room, the two members of his family join their free hands over his body. My stomach turns into a knot and I feel the tears coming. I barely knew him and only spoken with him a few times, yet I'm grieving. I feel an arm wrap around my shoulder and bring me closer.

The doctor flips the switches for the ventilator and the machine that beat Uriah's heart for him, and they stop giving him life. His brother's shoulders shake, and his mother squeezes his hand tightly before letting it go.

Then Tobias runs.

* * *

"Why am I feeling this?" I ask Eric amidst sobs. "I wasn't even that close to him."

"You don't have to be close to someone to feel grief," says Eric. "Remember the night Al died? You weren't that close to him either and his death shook you up."

I wipe my eyes with my sleeve.

"Something that should be worth mentioning," says Eric. "A hour ago, I called a truce with Four, to end my rivalry with him."

"Really?" I say, eager to hear more.

"I apologized for being such a dick to him during initiation, without trying to sound corny," says Eric, "but I guaranteed him that we wouldn't be friends, because of what transpired between us for over two years in Dauntless."

"I doubt he wants company," I say. "He's been stifling it after Tris died."

"I suggested Matthew to keep an eye on him," says Eric.

"Why?" I ask.

"In case he runs off and resets his memory," says Eric. "Sometimes when something happens, Four is pessimistic to the point of doing something cowardly."

* * *

Uriah's body has been processed and cremated. In a few weeks, they'll scatter his ashes at Dauntless, where he was born, surrounded by friends and family.

Though Eric and I won't be there.

During dinner, I go looking for Tobias, and find him in the empty dormitory, his back facing the door, as he watches the snow fall from the window.

"Tobias?" I ask.

He doesn't acknowledge me. I walk slowly towards him and stand beside him, watching the snow fall.

"Pretty isn't it?" I ask. "I loved it whenever the flakes were big."

"I never liked winter," he says, looking at the window.

"We can't live the same season all year round," I say, before turning to him. "Tobias, you can't isolate yourself all the time like this. It's not healthy."

"I really don't need to be spoken to like I'm a child," he says, irritated.

"Tobias, Tris wouldn't –" I begin.

"Wouldn't what?" he demands. "What makes you think that you know her? You weren't even her friend. You betrayed her as well."

"You think I had a choice in the matter?" I demand. "Besides, I knew Tris enough to know that you shouldn't be stifling company."

Tobias glares at me before leaving the dormitory, his hands balled into fists.

Leaving me alone in the ballroom.


	48. Chapter Forty Eight: Eric

Early the next morning, I borrow a truck and drive it to the compound. When no one was looking, I took a needle and a syringe of fear serum.

I drove through abandoned territory to the virtual prison that housed us for generations. I drive through the dilapidated buildings before stopping the truck in front of the Pire. I take the black box with me as I enter Dauntless headquarters.

Normally, Dauntless would be walking across ropes and doing other daring acts. However, it's strangely vacant. Perfect. I clutch the black box as I approached the door to the fear landscape room.

I promised myself that I would never do this, that I wouldn't come out unscathed if I took a trip the third time, but if I want to perform my last act as a Dauntless member, this is it.

This was one of things that Four and I disagreed on. He just didn't understand that going through your fear landscape will scar you. He called me a coward for not facing my fears. Amar said that there's a line between masochism and bravery. I want to stay out of the masochistic side of the line.

After entering the fear landscape room, I take the syringe out of the black box.

"Be brave," I tell myself, as I stick the needle in my neck.

* * *

I'm standing in darkness and it's not long before a spotlight shines over a silhouette, pointing a gun at me.

This is my first fear: Death.

The first time I faced this fear, I was able to regulate my breathing before I was shot in simulation. The second time during my final test, I shot the unknown person, thus giving birth to my "Kill or be killed" morality if my life is threatened.

I hold up a gun and shoot.

* * *

I'm still in darkness, though I feel something snag my leg and coiling itself.

Snakes. I have always feared snakes, ever since I was eight but I put on my brave face, because I didn't want people to know.

Instead of gritting my teeth and regulating my breathing like I did the first time, I take a knife from my pocket and slice the heads of the snakes off, watching them dissipate as I do.

* * *

I'm climbing a cliff, one with jagged edges that would cut you and falling pieces. Every time I took a step up, the clumps of rock I was holding on to would crumble off, causing me to almost fall.

Failure. This was also the fear where I showed Amar that I was Divergent. One thing I learned: keep climbing, don't give up.

Don't fail.

I do just that: climb horizontally and hastily keep going right after rock crumples under my hands.

* * *

The scene changes. I'm on a street, everyone laughing.

Public humiliation.

My palms become sweaty as the sweat drips down my skin.

Gritting my teeth, I maneuvered confidently through the laughing masses.

* * *

The scene changes. Rings of fire.

I dodge them, trying not to get burned in the process.

* * *

Fear six: Fear itself, in which I entered the simulation feeling apprehensive and frightened. It's a rare fear among the Dauntless, which was what Amar told me, but the fear of having fear doesn't surprise him, as many of us would want to be fearless.

I grit my teeth and regulate my breathing.

* * *

I'm in a pitch black room where I can't even see my own hand. Something I can't see crawls over me.

Fear of the unknown. Most likely coming from my Erudite upbringing, because I don't fancy being kept in the dark on things.

How I resolved it: just wanting to see what was frightening me.

* * *

Frigid cold.

I did what Isobel did: find firewood and light it up.

* * *

Powerlessness.

This involved me struggling through winds of high velocity, not being able to maneuver through them.

Got through that one by trying harder to get through the winds.

* * *

Acting out of impulse.

This one was scary. I shoot at targets at the training rooms unable to stop myself.

As scary and horrifying as this was, it was easy to resolve it, especially since I was Divergent.

I take the gun apart, empty the gun of bullets before I insert one bullet. I click the bullet in the chamber, point it at one of the punching bags before shooting the chain that supports it to the ceiling. It lands with a thud.

* * *

I'm in the Pit, everyone frozen in time.

Fear of being ignored.

How I solved it: just ignoring the situation and picking up a book to read.

* * *

By the time the scene changes, I'm apprehensive. This is fear twelve: romantic rejection.

Or was, I should put it.

Since I'm with Isobel, the fear most likely has changed. A knot forms in my stomach.

It starts like it did the last time: Isobel appearing from the darkness. During the first two times I faced this fear, Isobel was in Erudite blue, but this time, she's wearing Dauntless black and two years older.

When I first faced this fear, she shook her head at me, backing away from me slowly.

This time, she smiles at me and approaches me.

As I wrap my arms around her petite frame, I feel something sticky and wet.

Blood.

I look to see blood coming out like a river from her clothes. Her expression becomes agonized as she slides down.

"Eric…please, help me," she says, sobbing.

No, no, no!

"Don't leave me," I beg her. "I forbid it!"

Her green eyes look at me with such agony before the blood consumes her until there is just the puddle of blood left.

* * *

After ten minutes, I leave the fear landscape room and head up the stairs to my old apartment, breathing deeply. The image of Isobel reducing to a puddle of blood in my arms plays over in my head.

I reach the wooden door of my apartment and turn the knob with a sweaty palm and open the door.

I lived here for two years, mainly picking up a book and reading when I wasn't doing my leadership duties. The bed is nearby in an alcove, where Isobel and I made love twice. I head over to the unused closest, took two bags out before stuffing the contents in them.

When I was finished, I leave, intending to leave my past behind.

* * *

When I enter the Bureau compound, I see a truck drive past me and when I drive towards the front door, Christina and Isobel run to me, looking anxious.

"Is anything wrong?" I ask, stopping the truck.

"Matthew just checked the security cameras," says Isobel breathlessly. "He thought he saw Tobias take a truck and stealing some of the memory serum."

It doesn't take long for me to figure out what Four is up to.

The coward. I knew he would do something like this.

"Hop in," I say, "or when we get there, his memory will be wiped."

Isobel sits in the front passenger seat and Christina sits in the back before I drive off.

I don't lose sight of the truck ahead but I stay behind enough just so that I don't give him an unwanted tip off.

What Four is planning, is the decision of a coward. Sure, it would hurt excruciatingly to lose your significant other through death but the reason those memories sting is because that death was recent. The memories, give proof that the individual existed.

A brave man would never cowardly drink his memories away. That's what Peter did.

We trace the truck to the Abnegation sector. Of course he would come here to memory wipe himself, because this was his own personal hell. The very faction he left without looking back.

I park the truck and the three of us get out and enter the sparse living area of what I assume is his birth house.

"You go," I tell Christina. "You'll do a better job convincing him, since you were her friend."

I acknowledge that I declared our rivalry stalemate yesterday, but I don't know if I would be able to talk him out of this act of cowardice and stupidity without making a personal jab at him.

She nods before running up the stairs. Isobel and I sit in a three person sofa, waiting. I wasn't exaggerating when I thought that the Abnegation lived very simple lives.

Everything from reading to doing something as mundane as looking at the mirror while you brushed your hair was considered selfish.

Three minutes later, Four and Christina descend the stairs. By the looks of it, Four cut his hair.

Too short for Dauntless standards.

"Good thing you didn't erase yourself," I say to him.

"I thought you would be satisfied," says Four, looking at me quizzically.

"Grieving is a normal part of life," I say. "To erase yourself to forget your girlfriend is cowardly. A brave man endures the pain and the loss."

Usually, Four would argue, since our viewpoints of bravery differ by ninety percent. However, he just nods and says, "For once, I agree with you."

Christina and Four leave the simple house first, and Isobel and I follow, holding each other closely.

* * *

Life is complicated. It's a road ridden with potholes, and you'll expect to get bumps down the road.

But if someone is smart to hit them instead of just jumping over them just to avoid them, we'll deal with it better.

The conclusion: you solve problems better by facing and enduring them instead of just going around and avoiding them.

* * *

**All that is left is the epilogue and it will be in Isobel's POV. I know, I was bland in regarding to Eric's fear landscape.**


	49. Epilogue: Six Years Later

**Since this is Isobel and Eric's story, the epilogue will not take place during the scattering of Tris's ashes.**

* * *

**Epilogue: 6 Years Later **

"What are you doing today?" I ask Tristan as I make sure that her small pink backpack has everything.

"Setting free butterflies!" she says.

"Your class is going to set free butterflies today," I acknowledge. "It's the perfect time of spring to do so."

I slip _A Little Princess _into her backpack before zipping it up.

Eric left for his shift at the police department an hour ago. The police force is considered a Dauntless job. His paychecks are good, so we're able to divide between bills, groceries, and savings. Everyone in Milwaukee works if able, though you have a stay-at-home parent license, which I do.

Tristan is in kindergarten, and Eric and I's other two children, Lorelei and Tomas, a set of twins, are in preschool.

I wait with my children in the porch for the bus, balancing Lorelei on my lap, as one of the two family dogs, Harrison, a pit bull terrier, lays on the floor, his dog toy under his chin. Our lab/collie, Lady, is sleeping against Harrison.

It's not long before the bus stops in front of our home. I walk them to the bus and make sure that they entered the bus okay before I enter back into the house.

Matthew had some good connections in Milwaukee. Since Eric and I were one of few people from Chicago that settled here, they gave us the house. It's an old, renovated duplex, renovated to make it fit one family instead of two. With the upstairs kitchen transformed into a bedroom. The previous owner paid more attention to the inside than the outside.

Getting adjusted to Milwaukee was a challenge at first, since we were used to the way things were in Chicago. It took us a few months to remind ourselves that this was a metropolitan area, and not a city experiment with five factions.

Most of those I know decided to remain in the city where they are born in. A few of us, like Peter, decided to go to Milwaukee. Peter reset his memory during the mass reset of the Bureau. After the haze of the memory reset, some of the unpleasant aspects of his personality returned but he's not such a jackass as he used to be. He works in office and resides in an apartment.

Tobias was one of those who decided to remain in Chicago, a choice that surprised me and even Eric. I would have thought that he would have left to escape the unpleasant memories there. Of his unpleasant childhood and of the conflict that arose after the simulated attack on the Abnegation.

But I guess to him, leaving Chicago would be leaving Tris's memory.

They scattered Tris's ashes two and a half years after her death. Eric and I couldn't go because Eric had work and I was having my hands full with Tristan and the two dogs, not to mention that I was six months pregnant with the twins, but Christina told me via phone conversation that they scattered her ashes via zip lining, with the urn strapped to Tobias's back.

Right before Eric and I left Chicago, I scattered Theodore's ashes at the bridge that led to the former Candor sector. I would have been wrong scattering his ashes in Milwaukee, since he wasn't born there.

Eric and I got married two months before Tristan was born. It wasn't something extravagant, but what mattered was that we took our relationship to the next level. It was only a small wedding, with our acquaintances from Chicago, prominently Tobias, Christina, and Caleb among them.

Today, Tobias will be paying a visit here and he'll be bringing Christina with him. Those two most likely bonded by loss: Christina lost Will and Tobias lost Tris. There's no surprise that they're already in a relationship.

I enter the kitchen and take out cleaning essentials before the guests arrive. Pinned on to the tack board are various items: schedules, grocery lists, and pictures. Among the pictures, the first one is me in the hospital holding Tristan, four hours after she was born; the second is a portrait photo of her, with Harrison, a two month old pit pull at the time, sitting next to her; the third one, with me, Eric, Tristan and the twins, as babies, sitting outside, our two dogs at our feet.

It's amazing how fast time passes when you get older.

* * *

"Long time, no see," says Christina as she and Tobias enter the house at the appointed time, eleven o'clock.

"Long time, no see as well," I say as I hug them one by one. "Come on, I am getting lunch ready."

"Is Eric at work?" inquiries Christina.

"He usually picks the twins up from morning kindergarten and drops them off here before going back to work, but today, he'll be home," I say before going into the kitchen.

"How are they doing?" asks Christina, who follows me into the kitchen.

"Tristan is almost done with kindergarten," I answer. "She reads above her reading level, so far third to fifth grade level books. She doesn't like reading those 'stupid stories'."

"She sounds Erudite," says Christina.

"However, early when she started kindergarten, her teacher wanted us to talk to her, because she thought that Tristan was too advanced of a reader for her grade level," I reply.

"Oh dear, tell me about it," says Christina.

I tell her about the meeting that Eric and I had with Tristan's teacher, Christina reacting appropriately at the right parts.

"Eric called her _stupid_?" asks Christina, looking amused.

"You should have seen her face, and afterwards she went on saying, 'If you excuse me, Mr. Matheson, I minored in psychology in college and I know very well about how children behave'."

"I can just imagine his response," replies Christina.

"He said 'I guess psychology didn't teach you that children learn at different levels'," I reply.

"I would have loved to have seen it," says Christina.

We both talk in the kitchen as I cook and Christina feeds the two dogs some scraps.

From the kitchen, I see Tobias wandering through the living room, looking at the pictures on the walls, looking like he is deep in thought.

* * *

"Mommy!" Lorelei shouted as she ran into the house once she and her brother came home with their father.

"Oh, there's my growing girl," I say, lifting her up and I see that she has drawing. "Did you draw this?"

"Yes," she says, handing me the drawing. Inspecting it, it's a drawing of a butterfly. A monarch butterfly.

"Oh, it's beautiful," I compliment. "You're such a good artist."

"Need help with lunch?" Eric says to me before pecking me in the cheek.

"Yes, babe," I say before pecking him on the lips. I put Lorelei down before putting her drawing on the refrigerator with the other drawings. Tomas pulls a book from the small bookshelf in the kitchen before sitting on the small table reserved for him and his twin sister.

"You like to read about trains?" Tobias asks Tomas sitting next to him.

Nearby, Lorelei is sitting by the dog bed where Harrison occupies, throwing a ball at him, as Christina sits nearby.

"I used to have a bull dog named Chunker," Christina told her. "There was this one time where my mom left chicken on the counter…"

She told a similar story to Tris, Will, Al, and I during dinner on the day of Visiting Day before the ranks were released, on the same day where Eric and I had our first kiss in the training room.

It's only been six years but it feels like eternity, to think that that of those that sat together during initiation, only Christina and I are alive.

It wasn't long before lunch was ready. One can smell the cooked meat and the vegetables wafting from the house.

"You might want to wash your hands, Lorelei, since you touched a doggy toy," I hear Eric say as I took the platters to the dining room with Christina and Tobias's help.

"Where did you get your place mats?" asks Christina.

"Burman's. The local retailer," I say. "Most of the stores are mom and pops. The big businesses went extinct after the Purity War."

In Milwaukee, there are signs of what life was like before the Purity War. On my way to the supermarket, I would see some abandoned lots with cracked and unkempt pavement. Names like _Meijer_, _Wal-Mart_, probably places where people bought necessities and items.

Milwaukee wasn't just an metropolitan area. It was a time capsule of sorts, of the world before us.

"What would you two like with your lunch?" I hear Eric ask.

"Apple juice," Tomas pipes up.

"White grape juice," answers Lorelei.

"Apple and white grape juice it is then," I hear Eric say before he retreats back to the kitchen.

The twins sit in their usual seats and Eric dashes in with the juice cartons. We serve ourselves once everyone is seated, and Eric and I help the twins with their plates.

The conversation over lunch was mainly centered on some intellectual bantering, mainly talking about literature, which wasn't restricted to adult but child friendly enough that Lorelei and Tomas were able to talk about the kids' books they read.

After lunch, the twins went in their playroom while the four of us adults sit in the living room.

"How are things back at Chicago?" Eric asks.

"I thought you wanted nothing to do with what you call prison?" asks Christina incredulously.

"That doesn't mean that I can't ask about it."

From what Christina and Tobias tell us, George and Amar work in the police force back in Chicago. They're married now, since the procreation doctrine is no longer in force. Tori has taken to teaching, something that surprised those that knew her. Christina works in the police force as well, while Tobias works for Johanna Reyes, the current representative of government of Chicago.

"Did anything happen in the fringe lately?" asks Tobias.

"The department of health and human services recently declared the area too squalid to live in," says Eric. "They're going to assign housing to those remaining there."

"That's good," says Christina.

"Hopefully that will appease the rebels for some time," says Tobias.

There are still GD rebels in the fringe that believe that we need another war for the change we want. I had seen enough violence in my lifetime: Peter stabbing Edward in the eye with a butter knife, the Abnegation bodies sprawled over the streets, seeing the riot enfold in Michigan Avenue after the desecration of one of the faction bowls. I don't know about Tobias but I'm sure he's seen more violence in his life then I have.

* * *

The bus dropped Tristan off at three PM. She happily bounded across the front yard, her blond hair gleaming in the sunlight.

"There she is," I say. "The most cleverest girl in the world!"

She hugs me and says, "Hi, mommy."

"How was your day?" I ask her as we approach the front door of the house.

"We released the butterflies today," she says.

"That must have been lovely," I say. "There are a couple of friends from my past that I want you to meet."

"Is one of them the guy that dad calls 'Four'?" she asks.

After six years, one would think that Eric would stop referring Tobias as his Dauntless name, but old habits die hard.

"Yes, well, you'll learn his real name real soon," I tell her as we enter the house. I take off her backpack for her and she bounds across the living room to Eric, with Tobias and Christina sitting nearby.

"Hello there, rascal," he says as she sits next to him. "What happened at school today?"

"We released the butterflies," she pipes up.

"Well, they should be ready anyway," he says.

"Tristan, this is Christina and Tobias," I introduce her.

"Why does dad call you a number?" Tristan pipes up.

"Well, what number is that?" asks Tobias.

"He calls you 'Four'," Tristan answers.

Both Christina and Eric chuckle.

"There is some significance to that," answers Tobias.

"Four factions?" she asks.

"Oh, no, no, Tristan," I say, laughing. "No one had aptitude for four factions."

"It must mean something though," says Tristan.

Though I doubt that Tobias would go on and tell her about how the whole fear simulation thing worked at Dauntless.

"Come on, let's see how your bug project is going," Eric says to her.

After they leave, with Tristan's voice filling the corridor, Tobias says, "She's definitely Erudite. She asks a lot of questions."

"Children are curious by nature," I say.

"Where's the bathroom?" asks Tobias standing up.

"The first floor bathroom is between our bedroom and the first floor guest room," I say.

He leaves the room.

"What's with that?" I ask Christina.

"He has been hesitant in coming here," says Christina. "It's hard for him seeing kids with their fathers."

"I think it's always bothered him," I reply. "What is harder for him is that he is seeing his former rival with his kids."

"One thing that Tobias and I disagree with is the topic of children," says Christina. "He doesn't want kids."

"He's afraid he'll turn out like his own father," I deduce. "He needs to know that he'll never be like that man. He's better than the monster that raised him."

"I told him that," replies Christina. "He says, 'You don't understand the cycle of abuse, Christina. That's all I know about my childhood. People usually raise their children how they were raised'."

"There are people who were abused when they were kids and they turned out to be better parents," I say.

"Something tells me that you'll do a better job convincing him," says Christina.

* * *

For dinner, Eric and I prepare goulash and steak, and because of the nice weather the seven of us eat outside, candles lit to keep the mosquitoes away. Since the kids are too young for dessert, Eric and I play with the kids on their personal little playground set.

Tobias watches, and I noticed that his hands are balled into fists. Most likely he wishes that this was his childhood. A father should play with his children, not beat them with a belt.

It doesn't surprise me when Tobias turns to the backdoor and walks into the house.

"Lorelei, go see your daddy, I'll be right back," I say before leaving the backyard and into the house. I find Tobias in the living room, staring at the pictures on the mantel piece of the fireplace.

"Are you okay, Tobias?" I ask.

"You don't know how hard it is, seeing kids with their fathers," says Tobias. "It's harder seeing my old rival with his kids. I never saw him as parent material."

"Sometimes things take us by surprise," I say. I take a deep breath and say, "Tobias, you are not going to turn out like your father."

"What makes you think that?" he asks, turning towards me, looking incredulously. "What makes you think that I won't beat the crap out of my kids like Marcus did to me?"

"There are stories of survivors of child abuse who raise kids," I say, "and they treat their children the way they wanted to be treated. They end up being great parents."

"Well, not all of them," he says.

"Tobias, your father beat your mother," I say. "How did you treat Tris?"

"Better then how Marcus treated Evelyn," says Tobias. "I'm not going to lay a hand on Christina either like that."

"Tobias, you are nothing like the monster that raised you," I reply. "If you are capable of being a competent boyfriend and husband, you'll be a great father."

He considers for a moment before asking, "You really believe that?"

"Yes, I do," I say.

* * *

Christina and Tobias are staying overnight and will leave in the morning, since they have a long drive from Milwaukee to Chicago. The kids are fast asleep in their bedroom and Eric and I sit in bed, reading, which is our ritual before going to bed.

"What did you say to Four?" asks Eric.

"I told him that he is nothing like the man that raised him," I reply. "That he would be a better father then his own father."

"You think he listened?"

"Most likely, yes," I answer.

"By the time Tristan turns twelve, we'll have to explain to her why I call him Four," says Eric.

"And she would want to know how the fear simulations worked," I answer. "She's six and she likes to learn rather than play. It's scary."

"Well, if she were in Erudite, it would be considered normal," Eric says.

"True," I say.

True indeed. Though Eric and I are closer to our kids then our own parents were with us, one thing hasn't changed: we are raising our children in a pro-learning environment.

* * *

The future is a road with multiple exits. One choice could turn it around.

When I was young, I thought I was going to stay in the Erudite faction and live the rest of my days there. I bet everyone thought that they would remain in their faction of origin, well, except for Tobias Eaton.

At twelve, I started studying the basics on self-defense, confirming my aptitude for Dauntless.

One thing leads to another. Something simple can hold tremendous weight.

If you were to get an answer from me: it's that I don't regret my choices and that out of all that has happened, I have a loving family.

One choice can define your future.

_One choice_.

_**Fin**_

* * *

**Thank you for all your support. It was really appreciated.**

**The idea of Jeanine Matthews having a niece was rather spontaneous on my part, but I didn't want to use the clichéd "Jeanine Matthews's daughter" trope. I was going by what it would be in canon. They didn't say too much on Jeanine's family, so I gave her a brother and knowing this, her brother would have been an Erudite leader as well.**

**Believe it or not, Matheson is a surname I stole from the NBC television show **_**Revolution**_**. In my **_**Divergent **_**fanfictions, this has become Eric's last name. Sure, he has different last names in some of the fanfictions I read, but I want to remain consistent with my fanfictions, so whenever you read my Eric centric stories, don't be surprised if I use it again. Matheson is my **_**Divergent **_**in-universe surname for him. **

**While I'm working on two other **_**Divergent **_**fanfictions, I have three **_**Convergent **_**related stories that I developed and one that I planned. The first one is **_**Compliant**_**, which is a prequel about Isobel's life in Erudite; the second one is called **_**Defiant**_**, which will be a series of one-shots, taking place during the series and beyond, as well as Eric and Isobel's settling down in Milwaukee. The planned fic is **_**Be Brave**_**, which is AU of **_**Convergent**_**, is about Isobel and Eric's life in Dauntless had the war happened a year later and if Jeanine sent Isobel to assist Eric in hunting down Divergents.**

**I am hoping that this fanfic gets a TV Tropes page. Also, there are no fanfic recs for **_**Divergent **_**in TV Tropes.**

**My last words to my loyal readers:**

_**Be Brave**_**.**


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